


London Calling

by hereforallthememes



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV), Juliantina - Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Eventual Smut, F/F, Feelings, First Love, Fluff and Smut, Friends to Lovers, Love, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-12-24
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:42:31
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 63,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472776
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hereforallthememes/pseuds/hereforallthememes
Summary: AU. Juliana and Valentina both made separate spontaneous decisions to escape Mexico and move to London. Life is mundane for the pair until they coincidentally meet in the bar that Juliana works in.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I used to write fanfiction years ago back in the Sophie and Sian days (if anyone remembers them). But the movie/spin-off news has inspired to me write again so be patient with me as it's been a while! I've grown up in London so this forms the reason as to why it's set here and it'll be full of landmarks/British quirks. The point of view will switch between Juliana and Valentina, not every single chapter, but you'll get to understand them both. I hope you enjoy!
> 
> This chapter is Juliana's POV.

_13:00_

Juliana woke with a startle as the screech from the alarm on her phone filled the room. Tired didn’t even come close to what she was feeling as the late nights were truly beginning to take their toll. She immediately clicked snooze to give her some time to contemplate whether she really needed the job she had. However, the realisation that her rent wouldn't pay itself gave her the energy she needed to push the quilt from her body and sit up slowly. Coffee was quickly becoming the only answer to make this day run more smoothly.

Moving to London had been a great idea at the time but the reality of the spontaneous decision had set in. London is EXPENSIVE. Renting was taking up the majority of the money Juliana was earning as a bartender. She shouldn’t even really be working as she was only in the UK on a 6-month tourist visa. However, Perita, the owner of the bar, was paying her cash in hand, so she was unlikely to get caught. Perita was Juliana’s lifesaver when she first moved to London three months ago as she initially gave her a sofa to sleep when she had nowhere else to stay. She then offered Juliana a job, which she initially found weird that someone her age would own a bar/nightclub but Perita had sadly inherited it from her son who passed away a few years ago. She was going to sell it, but she wanted to keep it running in her son’s memory. From there she saved enough money to rent a small room in a house with three other people. She got on with her housemates, but she wasn’t particularly close to them. None of them worked night shifts or weekends which meant that she rarely spent a significant amount of time with them. Juliana had always been an independent person, but she couldn’t help feeling lonely in such a big city at times.

Juliana checked her phone to see that she had a text from one of her housemates.

**Grace: Hi hun, I accidentally finished the coffee this morning, can you grab some on your way home pls?? Thanks gal xx**

Juliana immediately rolled her eyes. Although her housemates didn’t know much about her, they did know that she needed a caffeine fix every time she woke up. How can you accidentally finish coffee? It was clearly a conscious decision knowing that there wouldn’t be enough left for Juliana to have one when she woke up. Plus, how could Grace expect her to buy coffee when she finished work in the middle of the night? She swore that British people had a natural tendency to be selfish sometimes.

_Juliana: It’s fine but can you get Danny to buy some on his way home from work? I finish at 4am._

**Grace: Oh shit yeah I didn’t even think, will do xx**

Juliana sighed at Grace’s excessive use of kisses at the end of texts, then got up to draw her curtains. Grey. Again. She always thought that people exaggerated about British weather, but in fact they hadn’t, the weather really is miserable on most days. In fact, it was actually raining a little bit. She silently cursed herself as she could hear her housemates in her head reminding her that they call this weather _spitting_. To be honest, she didn’t even mind this weather that much, it was an accurate representation of her mood most days. Juliana decided that she had been procrastinating for too long and walked down the landing towards the shower to get ready for work.

* * *

_23:32_

Juliana had been at work for a while now. Tuesdays were her least favourite night of the week. Tuesdays were student nights which meant cheap drinks. Cheap drinks meant drunk students which meant annoying students. But she mostly hated Tuesdays because it required her to spend the whole evening watching people her age having fun with their friends. It was something she hadn’t done since she moved to London, and something she rarely did when she was back in Mexico.

Juliana frowned when the overzealous drunk student who hit on her an hour ago returned to the bar. She tried to pleasantly smile through the awkwardness and was actually relieved when he spilled his drink over the bar as it gave her the opportunity to look for a cloth to wipe it up. When she returned, she realised that the lemon had fallen onto the floor on her side of the bar, so she bent down to pick it up. When she stood up, she locked eyes with the most beautiful pair of eyes she’d ever seen. Juliana couldn’t help but just stare at her because she was absolutely stunning, radiant even. Juliana could only see her top half because she was leaning against the bar, but she was wearing a leather jacket with a white shirt underneath. She also had the silkiest long brown hair which was slightly wavy. The girl with the beautiful eyes smirked at her when she noticed her staring and Juliana could feel a blush creeping up her neck. Suddenly the bar felt even hotter than it already was.

“What can I get for you?” Juliana asked after remembering that she had a job to do.

“You’re from Mexico?” She asked raising her perfectly threaded eyebrows at Juliana.

“So are you” Juliana responded as she picked up on her accent.

“We’re both a long way from home” She said flashing an award-winning smile.

“Indeed we are…anyway what drink would you like?” Juliana reluctantly brought the conversation back on-topic as she noticed more drunk students queuing at the bar.

“Preferably mezcal but hardly any bars sell it here” She frowned.

“We don’t either I’m afraid but I can get you anything else you want” Juliana offered.

“Surprise me” She smirked again and Juliana felt another blush creeping up her neck. Juliana really hoped that this girl wasn’t picking up on how embarrassing she was being.

Juliana turned around wondering what drink to make as for some reason Juliana had a burning desire to impress this stranger. She decided to make a cocktail that Perita taught her how to make, however, by the time she turned around, she could see the girl walking into back into the crowd holding hands with some short brunette guy. Juliana had absolutely no idea why, because she had only spoken to her for around 30 seconds as she would with any other customer, but she felt overwhelmingly disappointed that the girl had just left. The long line of customers signalled that she needed to push those beautiful eyes out of her head and carry on working into the night.

* * *

_03:48_

Juliana had gotten to the end of an exhausting shift and had almost finished cleaning the bar for the early shift tomorrow. She was the last staff member left which was a common occurrence as Perita trusted her to lock up and post the keys through her letterbox as she only lived across the road from the bar. Despite trying, Juliana was unable to get her mind off the beautiful girl she served at the bar earlier. She didn’t know why it was aggravating her so much as she didn’t even know her name, maybe it was because it was one of the very few nice interactions she’d had with anyone since she moved to London. It felt like a missed opportunity to make a new friend, which was strange as she wasn’t really looking for one. Juliana was lost in thought when she heard someone walk through the door.

“Sorry we’re closed” Juliana said with her back to whoever it was.

“Yes I noticed” came the response.

Juliana felt her heart fall into her stomach as she distinctly recognised the same voice from earlier, the same voice she was just replaying in her head. She turned around and made eye contact with the familiar sparkling eyes.

“You came back?” Juliana asked tentatively.

“Yes, erm I feel that I left quite abruptly earlier and I didn’t pay for my drink.” She said whilst nervously shifting her body stance. Juliana relaxed a little when she realised it wasn’t just her that felt like a nervous wreck.

“It’s fine, you were busy with your boyfriend and you di-“ Juliana was unable to finish her sentence as she was swiftly cut off.

“Boyfriend? Who? Sergio? He isn’t my boyfriend. We’re friends from home but we are both studying here, but we’re just friends.” She protested, and Juliana felt her heart return back to its normal place, but still beating wildly in her chest.

“Oh ok cool, well I was trying to say that you don’t need to pay as you didn’t actually drink it” Juliana smiled.

“Well what if I want to drink it now? Actually no I can’t because you’re closed, stupid idea…I should go…I mean I came back here really late, and you’re probably tired and want to go home, the last thing you want is a random customer that you can’t get rid of” She was rambling a little and Juliana found it quite cute.

“It’s fine, I still need to finish up, so I can make it for you and you can drink it whilst I finish cleaning?” Juliana felt proud of herself for finding an excuse to prolong this exchange.

“Ok that sounds good, what were you going to make me before? I’ll have that” She walked over to the bar and sat on a stool.

“Oh it was a cocktail.” Juliana said as she made her way behind the bar to make the drink.

“What does it taste like? Is it nice?” She asked quickly.

“I don’t know” Juliana responded.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” She looked confused.

“I don’t know, I don’t drink...I don’t like the taste of alcohol” Juliana admitted feeling like it was the most uncool thing ever.

“Wait you’re a bartender who doesn’t like alcohol?” She chuckled.

“I just needed a job and I used to live with the owner for a bit” Juliana explained whilst handing her the cocktail.

“That’s cool, I respect that, I wish I didn’t drink as much as I do” She responded with a forlorn expression on her face.

The girl took a sip and licked her lips and Juliana could feel the heat rising in her cheeks again. She swore that she had blushed more times this evening than she had done in her entire lifetime.

“Wow that’s amazing, what is it called so I can order it again?” She said excitedly.

“It doesn’t have a name, it’s not even on our menu, Perita, the owner taught me how to make it when I was living with her.” Juliana smiled at her own memory of that afternoon of cocktail making lessons to get her prepared for work behind the bar.

“So we should name it! Which actually reminds me that I don’t even know your name” She said whilst flashing her pearly white teeth again.

“Juliana”

“Valentina”

“Nice to meet you, well properly since we met earlier” Juliana awkwardly laughed.

“Yes it’s nice to put a name to a pretty face” Valentina smiled and Juliana felt her palms go sweaty. “But I think we should call it Amar a Muerte, because it’s so nice that I will either die from liver poisoning from drinking too many of them or from type II diabetes because of the sugar in them.”

At this point Juliana doubled over laughing and for the first time since she moved to London, she felt herself smiling from head to toe. By the time Juliana was done tidying up, Valentina had finished her drink, but Juliana didn’t want the conversation to end, so she sat next to Valentina at the bar.

“So why are you here in London?” Juliana asked tentatively.

* * *

_06:17_

Juliana didn’t know what it was about Valentina but she felt like she could talk to this girl for hours and not get bored. She usually found it difficult to form solid friendships as her childhood meant that she often didn’t stay in one place for long, so she rarely made an effort when meeting new people. But with Valentina it was so different, with Valentina she wanted to know everything about her. She had already learnt a few things so far as to why Valentina was in London. She was studying journalism at a university Juliana had never heard of but made a mental note to Google when she got home. Valentina made a spontaneous last-minute decision to study in London because her father passed away around nine months ago and she needed to escape. Juliana felt heartbroken for Valentina as she described the most amazing relationship she had with her father, and how lonely she felt around her the rest of her family without him. She spoke about her brother Guille and how supportive he is, but she felt so isolated when Guille left the family home to live with his girlfriend. It made Juliana think of the broken relationship she has with her own useless father and feel even more resentful towards him that he literally must have about nine lives working as a hitman, whilst all Valentina clearly wants is to hear her father’s voice one more time.

Both girls were speaking for so long that they didn’t even realise that time was moving swiftly on until they were interrupted by Perita walking into the bar. Juliana looked startled as she wasn’t expecting to see her.

“Oh thank god, I thought something had happened to you” Perita said sounding rather relieved leaving Juliana totally confused.

“I don’t understand? Is everything ok? You never usually come to the bar this late?” Juliana asked standing up from her seat.

“Yes, I woke up to go to the toilet and I didn’t see the keys on the mat, so I thought something bad had happened” Perita explained.

“Everything is fine, I just haven’t locked up yet” Juliana was still confused by this situation. She turned round to look at Valentina who was silent when she saw the small hand on the clock behind her past the six. “Oh I’m sorry I didn’t even realise that it was so late, I didn’t mean to worry you!”

“Relax, it’s ok, what have you been doing all this time?” Perita asked looking straight through Juliana at Valentina.

“It’s my fault, I’m Valentina, I came back to pay for a drink and we ended up talking for a while…I should go” Valentina explained.

“We should all go, it’s late, everything looks fine here so let’s lock up” Perita said as she began to move towards the door, with Juliana and Valentina beginning to follow her.

When Juliana got outside she realised that the sun was beginning to rise and it dawned on her again how long she had actually been speaking to Valentina, plus realising the lack of sleep she was going to get before her shift tomorrow even though it was 100% worth it.

“Do you want to stay on the sofa Juliana to save you going home now?” Perita asked.

“No it’s fine, the metro is running again by now, thank you though” Juliana responded, then remembered it is called the _tube_ here.

“Don’t worry about coming in tomorrow, we are never busy on Wednesdays, get some rest, you too Valentina” Perita responded before walking across the road to her house.

Juliana suddenly felt awkward again as she didn’t really want to go home as that meant finishing her conversation with Valentina. She looked at Valentina and it looked like they were both thinking the exact same thing. Juliana mentally told herself to stop being stupid and calm down and just go home.

“I’m going to head to the station, I’ll see you around maybe if you come back” Juliana spoke nervously.

“I was going to get an Uber back to my flat, I’ll just add you as first stop” Valentina offered.

Juliana was relieved that their conversation didn’t have to end there, and they waited for their Uber which didn’t take long. London does have its perks. When they got into the taxi, Valentina sat closer to Juliana than she needed to, and she could feel her palms going sweaty again. Butterflies erupted in her stomach when Valentina rested her head on Valentina’s shoulder. Juliana had never had this feeling before in entire her life so she didn’t even know what it represented. Maybe if she had more friends she would be used to physical contact. The taxi arrived outside Juliana’s house and she moved to open the car door.

“Wait” Valentina said whilst placing her hand on Juliana’s leg to stop her from leaving. Juliana felt her breath catch in her throat. “I want to talk to you again” Valentina said looking directly into Juliana’s eyes, and suddenly the temperature in the taxi rose. Juliana could feel this energy between them, but she didn’t quite know what it meant. She swore she saw Valentina look down at her lips and Juliana realised that she wasn’t even breathing at this point. The tension was palpable and she didn’t know what to do. Was Valentina going to kiss her? But they just met? Was she into girls? Juliana isn’t even into girls so why did she feel excited?

“Ahem” the taxi driver interrupted them and Juliana sprang back so quickly she hit her head on the window.

“Let’s swap numbers” Valentina offered with that smirk again.

After swapping numbers, Juliana got out and unlocked the door to her house, she looked back to see Valentina one more time but the Uber had already gone. She sighed and went upstairs to take a shower which happened to be the coldest shower of her life. By the time she got into bed, Juliana felt exhausted but in a good way because for the first time since she got to London, she met someone who made her feel excited. She checked her phone to see that she had a new message.

**Unknown: I’m going to give the Uber driver a one-star rating**

Juliana laughed and saved Valentina’s number in her phone.

_Juliana: Hahahaha! He probably just wanted to complete his trip to make more money_

**Valentina: True but I was enjoying talking to you**

_Juliana: So was I but we should definitely get some sleep_

**Valentina: Sweet dreams Juliana**

_Juliana: Night Val_

**Valentina: Don’t let the bed bugs bite**

_Juliana: Hahaha idiot, now go to sleep!_

**Valentina: You’re no fun!!!**

Juliana put her phone on her bedside table and rolled into a sleeping position. She couldn’t help but constantly replay the interactions she had with Valentina in her head before she drifted off to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments! I really appreciate you all!! This chapter is Valentina's POV. There's also a cheeky line I stole from SKAM España in there if any Croana fans spot it!

_12:48_

“Valentina!” Sergio shouted suddenly snapping Valentina out of her daydream. Of course she was thinking about Juliana.

“Sorry I wasn’t listening” Valentina replied flatly.

“She was like this in the lecture this morning as well” Lucy, a friend from Valentina’s course, added.

“What’s up with you today? You’re acting strange.” Sergio asked with a concerned expression on his face.

“Nothing I’m just tired after last night, I just need to sleep” Valentina responded hoping they would both drop it.

“But you left early after Sergio found his phone” Lucy questioned, and Valentina had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes.

“Yeah I know, I just didn’t sleep well” Valentina lied knowing exactly why she was so tired.

“Well buy another coffee to wake up, haven’t you guys got another lecture at 1?” Sergio asked.

“Yeah we do, and I will on the way in” Valentina hoped this would be the end of the Spanish inquisition.

“Before I forget, Lucho texted me, he said you haven’t called him back and he wants to book his flights to come visit” Sergio added.

As soon as Valentina heard Lucho’s name, a wave of guilt washed over her. She had been ignoring her boyfriend for the last week because she just simply didn’t feel like talking to him. They’d been together for a couple of years and everything had been going fine, just like a normal relationship. But that was the problem, should relationships just be fine and normal? She was content with normality for a long time and part of Valentina believed that she did love Lucho in some sort of way. But when her father died, everything changed. Lucho treated her like a stale loaf of bread by putting a time limit on her grief but telling her that she should be over it by now wasn’t going to simply make her get over it. Because how can you ever get over something as lifechanging as losing a parent? Or both parents as in Valentina’s case. Everything in Mexico felt suffocating, Lucho included. Everyone else seemed to be ok, yet Valentina struggled most days to get out of bed. It’s why she felt the need to just escape to London because she needed a fresh outlook on things. She craved change. She knew Sergio, her childhood friend and Lucho’s best friend, was studying in London so it seemed like a good idea. She was expecting things to change straight away, she expected to start feeling better, and she did sort of. It was a relief that no one except Sergio knew what burden she was carrying so she almost got the chance to reinvent herself. But there was still a huge part of her that was simply surviving instead of living. Until last night. Until she saw Juliana.

Valentina couldn’t even really explain it, but meeting Juliana last night made something inside her click. She felt this energy explode from her heart to the very end of her fingertips when she locked eyes with her. She was frustrated that the moment was ruined by Sergio dragging her to help him find his phone. As soon as she got outside, the empty feeling reappeared and she switched back into survival mode and left. When she got back to her flat, she just couldn’t get Juliana out of her head, so much so that she felt wide awake despite having a 9am lecture that morning. In the end, the only solution she could come up with was to return to the club and speak to her again. Despite her shitty excuse for returning, her plan worked and her and Juliana got lost in conversation and she realised that there was nowhere else in the world that she’d rather be in that moment. She had even got carried away in the Uber when she wanted to kiss Juliana. In a way she was grateful that the driver interrupted them because there were so many reasons why she shouldn’t have kissed her, with the main one being Lucho. But the urge was so overwhelming, it was something she had never felt with Lucho, that feeling that he was the only person in her universe.

“Valentina!” Sergio shouted again interrupting her thought process once again.

“Sorry, look, I’ll call him when I want to” Valentina was irritated.

“Ok jeez, calm down, all I’m saying it is shouldn’t be up to me to tell you that your boyfriend wants to talk to you” Sergio pushed.

“Well don’t” Valentina replied getting up to walk away from the situation and towards the lecture theatre.

Valentina really didn’t need Sergio to remind her that Lucho existed, she had been chastising his existence for the past few months. Deep down she knew she should’ve broken up with Lucho ages ago, but she has never been able to bring herself to do it. Valentina knew how heartbroken he would be, and she didn’t want to hurt him. It wasn’t Lucho’s fault that Valentina fell out of love with him, but after last night she wasn’t even sure if she was ever in love with him in the first place. Maybe it had always been platonic, and she had spent two years trying to convince herself otherwise. Honestly, she didn’t know. But one thing Valentina wasn’t confused about was Juliana, she knew from the moment she saw her working behind that bar that Juliana had this thing about her that captivated her. She could feel the goofy smile spread across her face as she wondered what Juliana was up to. If there’s anything Valentina had learned these past nine months, it was to seize every opportunity that presents itself. She whipped out her phone, holding it under the desk as she was in a lecture, and texted Juliana.

**Valentina: How are you feeling today?**

_Juliana: Better knowing I don’t have to work, what about you?_

**Valentina: I had to get up for lectures, so I’m sooo tired but the one I’m in now is only for an hour so it’ll finish soon**

_Juliana: Good, and then straight home to go back to sleep I’m guessing?_

**Valentina: Well actually I was thinking maybe we could get lunch after since you’re not working?**

_Juliana: Yeah sure, got anywhere in mind?_

**Valentina: I’m starving so is The Breakfast Club ok?**

_Juliana: Isn’t that a movie?_

**Valentina: Well yes but it’s a chain, I swear you said you’ve been here for 3 months, how have you not been? The food is to dieeeeeee for**

_Juliana: I’ve never heard of it, but now I’m expecting big things_

**Valentina: You won’t be disappointed trust me.**

_Juliana: Which one are we going to?_

**Valentina: I’ll meet you at London Bridge at half 2, there’s one there.**

_Juliana: See you soon_

* * *

_14:37_

Valentina was stood next to one of the exits for London Bridge station, waiting for Juliana who she presumed to be running late. She felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness at the thought of seeing Juliana again, even though she literally only saw her less than 12 hours ago. Valentina had never had this intense feeling towards anyone, let alone a girl. It made her feel slightly unsure of herself. But if she really thought about it, if she had to create a mental list of everything about Juliana that she felt drawn to, titled ‘Juliana’s essence’, would the physical anatomy between Juliana’s legs even make that list? Surely it should be more important to focus on exploring and adding new things to the list as she spent more time with Juliana? Valentina was smiling after coming to a logical conclusion in her head when she felt her phone vibrate, however that smile faltered when she saw who had sent the message.

**Lucho: Val, please talk to me. I don’t even know what I did wrong for you to ignore me for this long? I don’t want London to break us up. I love you and only you**!

Another pang of guilt. She was about to spend an amazing afternoon with Juliana and she really didn’t want Lucho to burst her happy little bubble. The text was a reminder that she needed to resolve things because she didn’t want to keep hurting him. Even more importantly, she didn’t want to be dishonest with Juliana and start things off in a bad way. Not that she knew what things were because she had no idea what Juliana was feeling. Valentina felt overwhelmed, she didn’t know if she was interpreting what happened last night in the right way or not. She really hoped she wasn’t. God, if this was how she felt after one night, Valentina could only imagine how she was going to feel as time progressed. She was re-reading Lucho’s message when she felt Juliana’s presence in front of her. She looked up and just smiled because despite Juliana wearing just a t-shirt, hoodie and jeans, everything about her was just wow.

“I’m so sorry I’m late, I was actually early but this station has so many exits” Juliana said looking flustered. As soon as Valentina looked into Juliana’s eyes, she immediately pushed Lucho out of her mind.

“I strongly advise you to avoid Bank station as well then” Valentina chuckled.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how big this city is” Juliana responded whilst rolling her eyes.

“That’s the beauty of it, every time you go outside you discover something different” Valentina mused whilst smirking about last night’s discovery.

“You’re a hopeless romantic” Juliana laughed and Valentina knew that this was a sound that she wanted to hear more of.

“It’s better to be glass half-full than half-empty, I think this is what British people say a lot” Valentina was pleased with her comeback.

“True, now lead us to the food woman, I’m hungry” Juliana demanded.

“Your wish is my command, my princess” Valentina said curtseying whilst signalling the way to walk.

They walked side-by-side in a comfortable silence for the short walk, with Valentina picking out a couple of places that she’d been to. Valentina noticed Juliana shift uncomfortably when she mentioned how they should go to The Shard as it has one of the most picturesque views of London. Valentina was unsure what to make of it though so chose to ignore it, maybe she just had a fear of heights? They arrived at The Breakfast Club and the waitress seated them in a booth in the corner. Valentina noticed Juliana taking in her surroundings and she absolutely adored the way Juliana’s expression almost frown-like when she was concentrating.

“The reason why I love this place so much is because it’s so chill, the waiters don’t even wear uniform” Valentina pondered.

“It suits your personality” Juliana smiled.

“How?” Valentina could feel herself getting excited.

“I know we only met yesterday but you strike me as a free-spirited person” Juliana said quietly giving Valentina the impression that she was nervous.

“My dad always used to tell me that I have my head in the clouds” Valentina laughed.

“It’s cute” Juliana said whilst avoiding eye contact and Valentina noticed that she was blushing.

“So, what do you want to order? It’s American cuisine so prepare yourself for the sugar rush” Valentina sensed the need to change the conversation topic so Juliana would relax.

“What would you recommend?” Juliana asked.

“The pancakes definitely, but if you want them, we should share as the stack they give you is almost as tall as The Shard” Valentina was explaining when it dawned on her that this felt like a first date.

“Sure perfect” Juliana replied.

The waitress took their order and the conversation flowed easily between Valentina and Juliana. They didn’t discuss anything too trivial, mainly why Valentina was passionate about journalism and what they both wanted to do in the future. Valentina asked Juliana about her family and she described the close relationship with her mother, Lupe, and how they have been each other’s rocks throughout Juliana’s life. Valentina asked Juliana about her father, but she was quite closed off and simply said they have no relationship, but she sees Panchito, her mother’s boyfriend, as a fatherly figure so she’s not disappointed by anything. Valentina had a burning desire to know what caused the rift because she could never imagine having a poor relationship with a parent, but It was the first time that Valentina could see that Juliana looked physically uncomfortable so decided to not press Juliana anymore. When the food came, Valentina felt victorious when she saw Juliana hum with content as she tried the pancakes. Valentina was also secretly pleased as it meant that she could sit closer to Juliana as they had to share the same plate.

“So…you’re really from a family of media moguls?” Juliana clarified.

“Yeah I guess, my dad was the head of the corporation and now my sister Eva is helping run things now” Valentina explained, she hated talking about her family’s status as people always pre-judged her.

“That’s crazy, so you literally have the perfect life, chauffeurs, cooks, charity galas, wow” Juliana said clearly struggling to hold the judgement in her tone.

“Well if you count being an orphan as perfect then I guess so” Valentina sighed. Juliana immediately took her hand and she felt that electric energy course her veins.

“Val, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that, I just…we’re from very different backgrounds…my family have always had nothing, I work as a bartender because I can’t even afford to study in Mexico, let alone here” Juliana said apologetically.

“It’s fine, I get it all the time but I’m not the same as my family, I didn’t actually ask for this life but it’s the one I have” Valentina expressed.

“No I understand and I didn’t mean to offend you, it’s just when you meet people that come from families like yours, you expect them to have the perfect job, house, family, boyfriend, everything” Juliana tried to explain and Valentina almost flinched when she said boyfriend.

“Maybe the material things in my life are perfect but everything else is far from it, and those are the things that bring you happiness, not stupid things like how many cars sit on my driveway” Valentina let go of Juliana’s hand as she needed a moment to just breathe, leaving Juliana looking guilty.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you” Juliana said looking down.

“You didn’t, it’s okay, I just never talk about how I’ve been feeling about everything, so it’s a little overwhelming, but it’s good to talk to you, it’s refreshing” Valentina offered and she was being honest, talking to Juliana did make her feel better.

“What about your friends back home?” Juliana asked.

“I love them of course, and I tried to talk to them at first, but I realised that they were only listening because they were waiting for me to stop being sad, so I stopped talking to them about it all” Valentina continued to open up.

“And what about a boyfriend?” Juliana asked, and Valentina tried to remain neutral.

“I’ve never been in love.” Valentina responded. It wasn’t really lying was it? More so an emission? “I’ve never had that feeling before with anyone, that feeling of suffering when you’re in love, when they ignore you, when you’re not with them” Valentina added, and this was the truth, she had never felt like that with Lucho.

“Well if it helps neither have I” Juliana said. “Well it’s not too surprising, as falling in love requires an actual person to do that with right” Juliana chuckled to herself.

“What do you mean?” Valentina was slightly confused.

“I’ve never had a boyfriend” Juliana said sheepishly, and Valentina couldn’t hide the surprise from her face which Juliana noticed. “I know it’s embarrassing, look at how shocked you are” Juliana said as she started to put some physical distance between herself and Valentina.

“No it’s not, I’m just shocked because you’re amazing and I’m surprised no one has been lucky enough to experience that” Valentina said placing her hand on Juliana’s leg.

“Thank you” Juliana whispered and Valentina looked her directly in the eyes and it felt like another one of those moments of impalpable tension where it was the perfect opportunity to lean in and brush her lips against Juliana’s.

“Is it ok to clear your plates?” said the waitress who quite literally popped up out of nowhere and suddenly Valentina wanted to take back all the nice things she had said about The Breakfast Club.

“Yes we’re finished thank you, can we have the bill please?” Juliana asked shifting around the booth a little bit.

The waitress took the plates and Valentina felt exasperated. It felt like the universe was punishing her by continuously interrupting precious moments with Juliana. The waitress came swanning back over with the bill and a card machine.

“Would you like to pay by cash or card?” The waitress asked enthusiastically.

“Card please” Valentina said immediately fiddling with her phone to load Apple Pay.

“Wait, I only have cash” Juliana interjected.

“Oh it’s fine, I’ll pay” Valentina responded nonchalantly and she noticed the expression on Juliana’s face change almost immediately.

“No, I ate as well, I want to pay my share” Juliana sounded agitated and the waitress looked like she wanted the ground to swallow her up.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s one dish Juls” Valentina proceeded to tap her phone on the machine.

“And earlier you said you don’t rub your money in people’s faces” Juliana hissed as she stood up and walked towards the exit.

Valentina wanted to get up and follow her, but the waitress was blocking her in. She gestured for the waitress to move but she didn’t catch on.

“Would you like the receipt?” asked the waitress further delaying Valentina’s exit to the point where Juliana was no longer in the restaurant.

“No it’s fine, excuse me please” Valentina said whilst slipping past the waitress and power walking towards the door.

Valentina looked left and right but didn’t see Juliana anywhere. All she could see was an abundance of tourists queuing for the next entry at Madame Tussaud’s. Valentina knew Juliana couldn’t have gotten far so she decided to head back towards the station. She bumped into strangers whilst frantically looking in every direction for any sight of Juliana’s long dark hair. And then she saw her down a side street and Valentina’s racing heart began to slow as she approached her. When Juliana turned around, she had tear stains on her face and her eyes looked a little red. Seeing her like that made Valentina’s chest constrict and all she wanted to do was wrap her arms around her. But Valentina didn’t know how to handle the situation, she was unsure as to whether Juliana was the type of person that liked to be hugged when they cried. So, Valentina remained silent waiting for Juliana to speak when she was ready.

“I can’t find my Oyster card” Juliana said sounding fed up whilst holding up her bag.

“Okay, well you had it before because you wouldn’t have gotten here otherwise, maybe you put it somewhere you don’t usually keep it” Valentina responded, and it looked like a light bulb turned on behind Juliana’s eyes. She opened a zip in her bag and held up the Oyster card for Valentina to see.

“Thanks” came Juliana’s dry response. She began to take a step forward to walk past Valentina, but Valentina shifted her body position to block her.

“Are we going to discuss what happened inside?” Valentina asked raising her eyebrows at Juliana.

“I don’t need you to buy me Val” Juliana sighed.

“Honestly I wasn’t, I just thought it was easier because it was one dish, I wouldn’t do that to you, especially after we discussed money, I was just trying to not overcomplicate things, but it was never my intention to offend you, the last thing I want is to annoy you or hurt you, I don’t want you to think bad of me, I want th-“ Valentina was rambling again.

“Val, it’s ok, I overreacted” Juliana interrupted.

“Sorry, really I am” Valentina added quickly.

“You ramble a lot” Juliana laughed.

“Honestly I’m not usually like this” Valentina hesitated. She wanted to just tell Juliana how she felt but she didn’t want to scare her. But surely Juliana knew? How could Valentina be feeling like this and Juliana feel nothing? _‘Fuck it’_ she thought, there was no time like the present. “I can’t help but be like this around you, you make me feel nervous because I’m scared of messing this up” Valentina professed.

“What do you mean ‘this’?” Juliana asked, and Valentina felt scared that maybe she’d made everything up in her head.

“This Juls, this energy between us, surely you feel it too, I’m not crazy” Valentina’s voice strained whilst physically gesturing the energy she was talking about.

“I don’t know, I told you I’ve never had a boyfriend and you’re a girl and I’ve certainly never thought about girls like that, I have no idea what’s going on” Juliana looked stressed.

“Don’t focus on the past, or the fact that we’re two girls, focus on what you feel in this moment when you’re with me” Valentina pleaded.

“I don’t know, I’m confused, I need to go” Juliana said hurriedly and began to walk away.

“Juls please! Don't run away!” Valentina’s voice broke.

“I can’t Val, I need to think, I need time” Juliana said before she disappeared around the corner leaving Valentina staring at the brick wall in front of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the places I use in this and will continue to use do actually exist in real life so serve as very good recommendations if any of you ever find yourself in London! Also happy Pride to everyone celebrating this weekend!!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for the kudos and comments, it means a lot honestly! This chapter is Juliana's POV.

_17:12_

Confusion is described as ‘the state of being unclear in one’s mind about something’. The only problem with this definition for Juliana is that it doesn’t provide a ballpark figure on how long that state would last. It had been two weeks since Juliana had seen or spoken to Valentina. During this time, Juliana felt dazed and had been going about her life in a robotic-like state. She tried to keep herself busy because any period of inactivity resulted in the same recurring voice in her mind, Valentina telling her that she liked her. As a result of trying to keep busy, Juliana was sat in Perita’s house having a coffee with her. She wasn’t really in the mood to speak to anyone if she was honest but sitting in her room at home was driving her crazy, so she decided to leave for work early.

“What’s wrong my dear? You haven’t seemed yourself recently” Perita asked after seeing Juliana staring into her mug.

“Nothing Perita, I think I’m just a bit homesick” Juliana lied and tried to force a smile.

“Juliana you’ve spent a lot of time in this house, I know you well enough to know when you’re lying” Perita responded giving Juliana a rise smile causing her to sigh.

Juliana was struggling to understand how she felt in her own head, let alone voice those thoughts out loud. She couldn’t wrap her head around Valentina telling her she liked her, _like that_. They’d only known each other for a day when she told her, how did she know? Juliana had never been in this situation before so she didn’t know how to process what was happening. She didn’t know if she felt the same because she had nothing to compare it to.

“Is this to do with that girl from the bar? Valentina if I remember correctly” Perita asked after getting no response and Juliana looked startled.

“Who Perita?” Juliana continued to lie.

“Juliana, I know you’re a closed book, and as much as I appreciate this visit from you, you’re obviously here for something other than coffee” Perita said quietly.

Perita was right. Juliana’s subconscious must have dragged her here specifically because if she really wanted to kill time, she could’ve sat in the living room with her housemate as one of them was back from work. He would’ve been completely oblivious to her change in mood. Juliana had chosen to visit Perita because deep down she knew Perita would drag the problem out of her. But how honest should Juliana be? She knew if her mother was aware that she was in a potentially romantic situation with a girl, she’d be on a first-class flight back to Mexico. But the UK and London specifically were different right? It was more open here so Perita wouldn’t judge her? Then again two women were attacked on a night bus in Camden last month simply for loving each other. Juliana felt sick with nerves, her hands became clammy, and her breath began to hitch in her throat. She was pretty sure that Perita noticed the colour drain from her face.

“Juliana, I can’t speak for everyone, but I can only promise that in this house you will receive total support about anything. Apart from if you killed her, I’m too old to rot in prison” Perita and Juliana laughed in unison and it lifted the tension amongst them slightly.

“I don’t even know what to say” Juliana offered.

“Why don’t you start with what happened?” Perita said softly.

“The day after I met Valentina, you know because you gave me the day off work, I went to lunch with her” Juliana paused and Perita politely waited for her to continue. “After we ate, we had a disagreement about money, but we resolved it, but then she told me that she liked me” Juliana stopped to look for disapproval on Perita’s face, but she didn’t find any.

“And then what?” Perita asked.

“I didn’t know what to say to her, so I left” Juliana said and Perita gave her that look you give when you want to nicely tell someone that they fucked up.

“And how are things now, what has been said?” Perita asked taking a sip of her coffee.

“Well nothing, I haven’t texted her since” Juliana admitted and Perita slapped her lightly on the arm.

“Perita!” Juliana shouted.

“Juliana, being the owner of a bar has taught me many things about your generation, if I had a pound for every time I heard a girl crying in the toilets because someone had ‘ghosted’ her, I would have enough money to buy another bar” Perita explained with air quotes and Juliana felt guilty.

“What was I supposed to do Perita? What could I have told her?” Juliana sounded irritated, but at herself more than anything.

“Maybe you could’ve started with how you feel” Perita responded.

“I don’t know how I feel, no one’s ever liked me before!” Juliana raised her voice.

“Tell me something, now you’re not speaking to her, what is that like for you?” Perita asked and Juliana was unsure where she was going with this.

“I don’t know, I guess I miss her, I keep replaying everything in my head, I feel bad” Juliana spoke tentatively.

“When you come to work, do you miss your housemates? Do you replay your conversations with them in your head repeatedly until you feel like you’re going crazy?” Perita asked and the pennies were starting to drop for Juliana.

“Don’t be silly, of course not” Juliana replied quickly.

“Do you want to kiss your housemates?” Perita questioned and Juliana was confused.

“Wait…what?” Juliana was truly dumbfounded.

“Juliana, I know what I saw when I walked into the bar a couple of weeks ago and I can assure you that the only person I’ve looked at like that is my late husband” Perita explained and Juliana didn’t know what to say, she shifted uncomfortably in her sleep.

“I should go, it’s nearly time for the shift changeover” Juliana began to make excuses to leave.

“You came to London because you wanted things to change right? Number one on that list should be to stop running away from situations that scare you.” Perita said sternly and with that tone, Juliana didn’t move an inch.

“This is all so overwhelming” Juliana could feel tears filling her eyes.

“Of course it is, but Juliana you wouldn’t have been moping around for this long if you felt absolutely nothing for Valentina” Perita handed Juliana a tissue.

“But this is crazy, she’s a girl, I’ve known her for two weeks” Juliana sniffled.

“No one is saying you have to get married tomorrow Juliana, but don’t lose something that could potentially be special because you’re scared of your own feelings” Perita told her and Juliana knew she right.

“But what do I do now?” Juliana could hardly believe she was receiving relationship advice from an elderly woman.

“Be honest with her, tell her that you’re scared and everything is screaming at you to run away but you’re going to do everything you can to not run” Perita said and pulled Juliana into a hug.

As Juliana embraced Perita’s warmth, she slowly accept her feelings towards Valentina. Perita was right, she _did_ feel differently about Valentina. If Valentina had kissed her in the taxi or in the restaurant, would she have stopped her? Probably not. Juliana knew that this wasn’t just toeing the friendship line, it was a massive leap over it. But what was she really scared of? Crossing the line or other people’s opinions about crossing the line? Juliana also knew that she couldn’t keep skirting around the situation without actually handling it. Ignoring Valentina wasn’t going to make the situation go away, and to be frank, Juliana didn’t really want the situation to go away either. It was time to stop running. Juliana pulled back from Perita and for the first time in what felt like forever, she had a sense of clarity in her mind.

“Ok now I really need to go to the bar, but thank you Perita, honestly you’ve helped clear my head” Juliana felt a strong sense of gratitude.

“Anytime you know that, and Juliana don’t live with regrets when you have a chance to be happy” Perita responded and Juliana gave Perita another hug before leaving to go to work.

* * *

_21:57_

Work was unexpectedly busy and Juliana had been rushed off her feet for her entire shift, to the point where she hadn’t had a chance to approach the situation with Valentina. Juliana decided to nip to the staff toilets and send her a quick text. Well, the text was supposed to be quick, but Juliana spent far too long typing, deleting, and re-typing her message. After what felt like a million drafts she finally decided to send the text when someone banged on the door asking her if she was ever coming out. 

**Juliana: Hi Val, I know I didn’t leave things well with you and I wanted to say I’m sorry. I think we should speak properly in person, if this is ok with you? Maybe tomorrow if you can?**

Juliana put her phone back into her pocket and washed her sweaty palms in the sink. Although Juliana made the decision to stop avoiding the feelings she had towards Valentina, she wished she would stop feeling like a menopausal middle-aged woman breaking out into hot sweats every time she had to interact with Valentina. Just as Juliana was about to leave the toilet, her phone buzzed and she Juliana was pretty sure she was in the early stages of a cardiac arrest.

_Valentina: I’m busy with deadlines right now_

Juliana actually waited to see if Valentina sent a second follow-up text because she wasn’t expecting her response to be so dry. She knew that she most likely hurt Valentina by running away but Valentina was a bubbly person despite everything going on in her life, so she was hoping for more than that.

**Juliana: Oh ok well tell me when you’re free because I’d like to talk to you about everything**

Juliana left the bathroom and made her way back through the crowd to the bar. Another member of staff gave her a look that read ‘where the hell have you been’, but Juliana was beyond the point of caring.

* * *

_22:33_

Juliana was serving a customer when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. She took it out to have a quick glance whilst the customer was paying.

_Valentina: You didn’t want to speak to me when I told you how I felt, you haven’t wanted to speak to me in the past fortnight, but now you want to speak? But what now if I no longer want to speak to you?_

Juliana froze, and it felt like someone had sucked all of the oxygen out of the room. In that precise moment Juliana couldn’t feel anything, she couldn’t hear anything, nor could she see anything. Juliana was numb, dissociated, however you want to describe it. Is this what shock feels like? Juliana couldn’t move, she was rooted to the spot in this reverie where time stood still.

Suddenly, Juliana could feel herself being dragged backwards and she lost her balance since her body wasn’t ready to rediscover its ability to move. Juliana could feel her senses slowly reconnecting her to the world around her. Her vision came back into focus and she could see a worried expression on the face invading her personal space. She felt a pair of hands holding her up after she stumbled backwards. Music burst through her eardrums. The smell of sweat burned her nostrils. She could taste bile on her tongue. She needed fresh air immediately. Juliana managed to mumble that she was ok but she needed to step outside. She grabbed her phone and made her way towards the back entrance.

The fresh air hit Juliana like a slap in the face, and despite the temperature being quite mild, she felt goose bumps rising on her skin. The air felt cold and wispy and Juliana wished that she grabbed her jacket before she came outside. She sat down on a ledge as she still felt unsteady on her feet. Juliana took out her phone and re-read Valentina’s message. In the haze that Juliana had been, she hadn’t actually considered that Valentina’s reaction would be anything other than positive. Now what? Juliana felt stuck, she’d moved a few steps forward and Valentina’s message had knocked her back to square one, or square zero if that even existed. This is why Juliana kept herself to herself to avoid situations where she ended up feeling like this. But Perita’s words about living without regrets struck a chord with her so she couldn’t just give up. She decided to just call Valentina and hope they could resolve things if she answered. Juliana was getting ready to hang up the phone because it was just ringing out, plus no one leaves answerphone messages anymore, but she heard the dial tone stop. _  
_

“Juliana now isn’t the best time” Valentina spoke and her flat tone irked Juliana.

“Then when is a good time Val? I asked you and you said you’re busy” Juliana fired back and she heard Valentina laugh.

“Because it’s all about you isn’t Juliana? Have you even considered how I might be feeling after the way you just walked off? After you left me wondering if I would ever hear from you again?” Valentina sounded hurt.

Valentina was right, Juliana hadn’t really considered things from Valentina’s perspective. She hadn’t thought about how Valentina must have felt when she left her to deal with the situation. She hadn’t thought about how she must have felt just waiting to see if Juliana would message her again. She hadn’t thought about how she would feel after finally getting that message. She hadn’t thought about how she must be feeling right now in this moment after Juliana called her out-of-the-blue. Juliana felt selfish because she really hadn’t thought enough about Valentina’s feelings. Juliana felt disappointed in herself because her mother didn’t raise her to be this person.

“I’m sorry Val, I don’t know what else to say other than I never meant to cause you pain” Juliana was remorseful.

“Juliana, someone can accidentally murder someone and say sorry, but it doesn’t change the fact that they’re dead” Valentina’s cold words made Juliana’s heart constrict.

“I know, you’re completely right, I can’t take back how I’ve treated you, I know this” Juliana heard Valentina sigh before she continued. “I also know that this isn’t just about me, it’s about us and I want us to talk together and understand everything together. I know we had the opportunity to do this before, but I panicked, and I was overwhelmed, I can’t apologise for feeling like this, but I do apologise for making you feel like shit because of it” Juliana was going to continue but Valentina interrupted her.

“Yeah you did” Valentina half-laughed.

“I’m sorry” Juliana repeated.

“You don’t need to keep apologising” Valentina responded.

“I know I’m sorry…shit I did it again…idiot” Juliana cursed herself and ran her fingers through her hair.

“You’re basically British now” Valentina said laughing and that sound gave Juliana hope.

“Don’t say that, the week before I left my mum kept telling me not to forget my Mexican roots” Juliana rolled her eyes.

“I’ve missed you” Valentina laughed again.

“Me too honestly and what I want…and hopefully you want too…is to have a conversation together about everything…the conversation we should’ve had last week” Juliana struggled to get her words out because she was nervous about Valentina shutting her down again.

“Ok” Valentina spoke so quietly Juliana wasn’t sure if she misheard her.

“Ok? As in yes?” Juliana could hardly contain the excitement from her voice.

“Yes Juls, calm down, I can hear you smiling through the phone” Valentina laughed, and Juliana almost wanted to punch the air in triumph.

“When and where?” Juliana asked quickly so that Valentina didn’t have the opportunity to change her mind.

“I don’t have lectures this week because it’s reading week for deadlines, so we can go for coffee tomorrow morning, well late morning-ish since you finish late, wait…aren’t you at work right now?” Valentina sounded confused.

“Yeah I am but I came outside to get fresh air and well...call you” Juliana thought she sounded stupid.

“Ahh ok, well what about 11am tomorrow? There’s a place called Grind in Covent Garden, it does great coffee” Valentina asked.

“Yes, I can do that” Juliana replied knowing that she would’ve met Valentina any place at any time she wanted.

“See you tomorrow then” Valentina sounded more cheerful.

“Can’t wait, bye” Juliana was right, she wished she could skip straight to the morning. She hung up the phone and a sense of calm oozed through her body.

* * *

_04:02_

Juliana was just getting into bed after finishing work. For the first time in ages she felt herself relax beneath her bed sheets. The cool air through the window came as a relief in comparison to earlier. To call the past two weeks tumultuous would be an understatement but after speaking to Perita and Valentina, Juliana was ready to face her fears head-on. Valentina didn’t scare her, but everything else that came with liking her did. Juliana had always thought that her lack of interest in building any sort of romantic relationship with a guy had been down to her just being an extremely independent person. Juliana wasn’t like her few friends in Mexico who were obsessed with guys, but she never saw it as a negative thing. But Juliana never once quite considered that it might be because she wasn’t attracted to guys. Did that then make her gay? Juliana was unsure. The tension in Juliana's body began to rise again as her thoughts began to panic her once again. The only person that she’d felt any sort of attraction to was Valentina. But was that because Valentina was a girl or was it because Valentina was Valentina? Once again Juliana didn’t know. Juliana rolled over as she was now struggling to find a comfortable position in bed. Juliana was frustrated with herself that she had most likely overthought herself into a sleepless night. Juliana was contemplating whether to go downstairs a make a cup of tea to help her sleep when her phone vibrated. Once again, her heart was doing jumping jacks when she saw the sender of the text.

**Valentina:** **I just wanted to check that you got home ok?**

_Juliana: Yeah I did thank you, what are you doing up?_

**Valentina: I woke up to go to the toilet and I thought of you (not whilst I was peeing obviously)**

_Juliana: Hahahaha, well I appreciate the thought, honestly I thought you were still angry with me_

**Valentina: Life would be easier if I could stay angry at you but my heart doesn’t listen to my head**

_Juliana: Well tell your heart I say thank you_

**Valentina: Hahaha, I’m going back to sleep now, sweet dreams**

_Juliana: You too Val_

Juliana couldn’t do anything but smile. She knew that Valentina must have the sweetest heart to still check up on her even after everything that had happened. Valentina didn’t hold anything against her and Juliana felt a sense of relief knowing that. It forced Juliana to remind herself that she needed to focus on what was important in this moment, to live in the present without regrets. Valentina was what was really important because she was the only person that had ever made Juliana feel like she did now, and she eventually drifted off to sleep determined to not let fear stop her from exploring that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going on holiday tomorrow so apologies as it's going to be a couple of weeks until I upload another chapter. Buttttt absence makes the heart grow stronger so bare with me and this fic :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! Sorry it's been longer than I thought since I last updated, life got in the way when I got back from holiday. This chapter is Juliana's POV so I hope you enjoy!
> 
> As always thank you so much for the feedback, I appreciate you all!!

_07:17_

Juliana sighed in annoyance at her body for waking her up. Name a more frustrating thing than waking up purely because you need the toilet. Juliana was the type of person that always struggled to get back to sleep once she woke up. Especially because she was already nervous due to her impending chat with Valentina today. As Juliana stared at the ceiling, all the courage that she possessed last night when calling Valentina had dissipated overnight. She was desperate for today’s conversation to go well even though she wasn’t too sure on what ‘well’ actually was. Was today the start of a relationship with Valentina? Juliana wasn’t sure if she was ready for that. After accepting that she wasn’t going to get anymore sleep, Juliana slowly rose from her bed to make her way to the toilet.

It dawned on Juliana how early it actually was when she could hear her housemates talking in the kitchen meaning they hadn’t even left for work yet. She decided to make an effort and join them instead of getting back into bed. Juliana quickly grabbed her phone from her room, looked at the screen to confirm that it was far too early for her to be awake, before making her way downstairs. As she walked into the kitchen, she was hit by the smell of coffee and Juliana could feel her body slowly coming to life. By the time she approached the coffee machine, Tom had already poured a mug and handed it to her.

“I’m guessing you need this since you’re never up this early” Tom offered. He was Juliana’s favourite housemate despite seeing him the least. Tom was naturally considerate and polite which made Juliana feel comfortable around him.

“You’re a life saver, thank you, I couldn’t sleep anymore” Juliana responded before grabbing some milk from the fridge.

She then sat down at the kitchen table to engage in the conversation, which Juliana immediately regretted as they were discussing some reality show that came on every evening when she was at work, therefore she had no clue what they were talking out.

“Oh for fuck’s sake, severe delays on the central line AGAIN” Grace yelled as she slammed her phone onto the table. Juliana thought that it must be nice to have the security of phone insurance to slam your phone down so freely like she just did.

“It’s crazy that this happens all the time, yet travel is so expensive here” Juliana spotted her opportunity to finally participate in the conversation.

“See you’ve not even been here long and even you realise TfL is shit” Danny added his own input before he noticed the look of confusion on Juliana’s face. “TfL is Transport for London, the company that run the tubes and buses” Danny added to aid Juliana’s understanding and her memory clicked.

They then began to discuss alternative routes to work because they were lucky enough to live at a station with multiple lines going through it. However, Juliana felt that her lack of London experience disqualified her from the conversation, so she began to tune out again.

Juliana’s thoughts returned to Valentina, as they always seemed to do when she had nothing else to occupy her thought process. Juliana felt nosy, so she decided to stalk Valentina’s Instagram. Honestly, she knew that this obsession wasn’t healthy, but she couldn’t help herself. The first thing Juliana noticed was how many followers Valentina had. Juliana had guessed that she would have more than the average person, considering that her family was well-known back in the Mexican capital, but still this was a lot and Juliana was taken aback. Juliana squirmed in her seat as she began to feel insecure about the attention she was getting from Valentina. Why would Valentina of all people want anything to do with someone like her? Juliana began to scroll through her timeline and she felt awestruck by Valentina’s effortless beauty. Her blue eyes quite literally shone in every photo that she was in and Juliana felt captivated by them, even through a phone screen. Quite a lot of the photos were taken in various countries, which again reminded Juliana of Valentina’s extravagant lifestyle. Juliana recognised Sergio from the bar in a couple of photos, and there were a few more with another taller guy with greasy medium-length hair, and a brunette girl who she presumed to be more childhood friends. One thing that Juliana noticed was the distinct lack of photos over the past few months, all of them were of places in London and Valentina didn’t appear in any of them. Juliana couldn’t help but align the contrast in the posts with the death of Valentina’s father and Juliana felt sadness wash over her body.

Juliana was dragged from her thoughts when she noticed her housemates looking dumbfoundedly at her. Juliana knew they must have asked her something, but she was thinking about Valentina so obviously she hadn’t been listening. Juliana smiled awkwardly before clearing her throat.

“Sorry, I was reading a text from my mum” Juliana lied which seemed to do the trick as the expressions on her housemates’ faces changed.

“Oh, we were just asking if you have a day off this weekend as we are thinking of having a BBQ since the weather’s supposed to be decent, and we don’t want you to miss out” Grace asked excitedly, and this British mentality made Juliana chuckle because honestly as soon as there was a 1% chance of a sunny day, British people lost their shit.

“Sunday” Juliana replied genuinely smiling because she felt included and it was a rare feeling for her.

“Great Sunday it is, invite whoever, we’ll make sure there’s enough food and alcohol for everyone” Tom spoke as he began to wash the breakfast plates up.

“Fantastic, right I’m going to finish getting ready since we have to leave earlier now to get into work on time. See you later Juliana” Grace added before she left the room.

Juliana took this as her cue to retreat to her room. Juliana scrunched up her nose as she took in the smell that your room always has the morning after you’ve slept in it. She drew her curtains and was surprised to see an absence of clouds in the sky, her housemates were right, the weather really was going to be good. Juliana felt giddy as she thought about what Valentina’s reaction to the blue sky would be like. Juliana remembered in their first proper conversation that Valentina spoke about the weather being the one thing she missed the most about Mexico. Juliana opened her window to air out her room before grabbing her towel to have a shower.

* * *

_09:38_

Juliana was stood in front of the mirror staring at herself after her third outfit change. Despite being passionate about fashion, she had never been one to drastically care about her own appearance because she could never afford to care. Plus, she had never had the desire to impress anyone. But now knowing she was going to have an important conversation with Valentina, Juliana suddenly hated every single item of clothing that she owned. She wanted to appear casual but also look effortlessly good like Valentina always did. Juliana rolled her eyes as she realised how dramatic she was being, but again she didn’t know how to stop. She felt embarrassed because she just wanted Valentina to find her attractive. Juliana’s phone vibrated when she was rummaging in her wardrobe for another top, and her heart attack symptoms returned again when she saw Valentina’s name on the screen.

**Valentina: Good morning Juls, how are you? Did you sleep ok? I know I said to meet at The Grind but when I woke up this morning there was a leak in my bathroom, and the plumber said he will come today to fix it so I need to stay in to wait for him. Is it ok if you come here instead?**

Juliana breathed a sigh of relief when she finished the text because she was initially beaming at Valentina’s cuteness when asking how her three-hour sleep went, which quickly switched to panic that Valentina was about to cancel their plans before then reading the last sentence.

_Juliana: I’m ok, a little tired because I woke up early, what about you? Yes I can come to you, what is your address?_

**Valentina: I am good, and I have coffee here don’t worry! I’ll pin drop you my location because it’s easier to find, the closest stop is Sloane Square**

_Juliana: Amazing, see you soon_

**Valentina: Perfect, call me if you get lost**

Juliana grinned as she flopped back onto her bed, re-reading Valentina’s messages. She was also intrigued because she was going to see Valentina’s flat. Obviously, Juliana felt like she knew Valentina relatively well because their short interactions felt like a lifetime. But when you go to someone’s house, it’s a completely different feeling. It was her first chance to see Valentina’s personal space, her safe space, which could only aid Juliana’s understanding of Valentina.

* * *

_11:22_

After finally committing to an outfit, which ended up just being a t-shirt and jeans combination anyway because Juliana remembered that she had work later, she was almost at Sloane Square. Juliana realised that they actually both lived on the same tube line but on opposite sides of London, so the journey took a while. However, Juliana was grateful that the District Line connected them as it is one of the few tube lines with air conditioning. Manoeuvring around on London’s underground system was a stark reminder for Juliana to be a good person because she certainly did not enjoy the little preview of hell she got every time she travelled on most lines.

As Juliana emerged from the station to start following the pin that Valentina had sent her, she was shell-shocked by how beautiful the area was. Obviously, Juliana was aware that London was home to many picturesque areas and it was unsurprising that Valentina would be living in one of them, but Juliana hadn’t really had the time or money to really experience any of them herself. Sloane Square was both greener and cleaner than where she lived, and Juliana could immediately sense that Valentina was perfect was for this area. The houses left Juliana speechless, so many of them were a pristine white colour without a single stain in sight. Juliana had played Monopoly a few times with her housemates, and although she was unaware of many of the places on the British board format, Juliana knew that Sloane Square could definitely be a green or dark blue location.

Juliana noticed a small supermarket on her journey so decided to pop in and grab a few things. She guessed that Valentina probably didn’t cook much due to the combination of growing up with maids and being a student. After paying, Juliana continued to follow the pin on her phone and she arrived at what she presumed to be Valentina’s flat. Juliana decided to quickly text Valentina to inform her of her presence because she was pretty sure that only her parent’s generation still continued to utilise doorbells.

**Juliana: Hey Val, I think I’m outside**

_Valentina: Great! Just ring the buzzer, I already told the concierge you were coming, I’m on the top floor, there’s a lift_

Juliana chuckled to herself because of course Valentina would live in a building with a concierge. She knocked on the door and was greeted by this old stocky man who signalled to her where the lift was after she told him that she came to visit Valentina. Juliana shuddered as she was pretty sure he ogled her as she walked past the desk. Juliana got in the lift and looked at the buttons, she assumed ‘P’ was the top floor as it was the only logical choice so pressed that. As she arrived at the correct floor, the doors opened directly into Valentina’s flat. Actually, this was not a flat, it was a penthouse and it was huge.

Juliana heard Valentina coming around the corner before she saw her, and Juliana’s stomach flipped in anticipation. Juliana felt breathless when she caught sight of her. Valentina was only wearing a vest top and leggings, but Juliana thought she looked like Christmas morning. Maybe it was her energy and the way she carried herself, but every time Juliana saw Valentina, every single nerve in her body came to life.

“Hi Juls, you made it!” Valentina chirped as she walked towards Juliana.

“Yes I did, it wasn’t too difficult to find” Juliana responded awkwardly as she was unsure what to do.

Should she hug Valentina? Or was it too awkward after so long even though they cleared the air yesterday. Well luckily for Juliana, Valentina took the decision away from her as she immediately enveloped her into a hug. Juliana suddenly remembered that she was carrying a shopping bag so awkwardly put it on the floor before wrapping her arms around Valentina properly. Juliana felt goose bumps encompass the entire surface of her skin as she took in Valentina’s scent. She smelt incredible and Juliana wondered if it was possible to become high off of this smell alone. Valentina shifted slightly and slid her hands down Juliana’s back and Juliana felt a rush of heat go straight to her cheeks. When Valentina hands rested in the small of her back where her skin was exposed, Juliana felt that rush travel further south and the shock of the feeling caused her to stumble backwards which abruptly ended the hug. Juliana internally cursed herself for causing the loss of contact. She was also embarrassed that she was unable to perform a basic function such as a hug. However, she cast this feeling aside when she saw Valentina smiling at her with those beautiful blue eyes.

“I didn’t know if you had food or not so I bought a few things” Juliana said as Valentina bent down to pick up the bag.

“Perfect, this is so much better, I was only going to suggest ordering something” Valentina responded before she began to walk towards the kitchen area.

Juliana followed her and began to take in more of Valentina’s personal space. It was a beautiful open-plan space with a large kitchen area on the left with grey marble worktops. On the left was a large grey corner sofa, complete with mint green cushions and matching armchairs next to the biggest flat screen TV she had ever seen. There was a spiral staircase which Juliana guessed led to Valentina’s bedroom as there didn’t seem to be any down here. However, the most amazing feature of the place was the balcony which seemed to stretch across the entire front of the penthouse. The view was gorgeous, and Juliana could see some outdoor furniture and a firepit table on the balcony complimenting the hot tub on the right-hand side.

“Val this place is amazing” Juliana mused and the was truly awestruck by how the other half lived.

“It’s nice” Valentina sounded disappointed and Juliana waited for her to continue. “When I told Eva I was leaving to come to London to study, obviously she was angry which is why I only told her on the day of my flight, but by the time I landed here and switched on my phone, she texted me this address and said she bought it for me to live” Valentina paused looking at the floor. “I mean I can’t complain, it’s amazing, you are right, I don’t know…I wanted something more homely, something different to my family home in Mexico, but Eva is Eva so here I am, but my friends from uni love it here and treat it like their home too so it’s okay” Valentina finished pointing at the PlayStation next to the TV to demonstrate her point.

“I understand, but Val, a home becomes a home when you treat it like one, so let’s do that by cooking breakfast together” Juliana smiled and crossed the room to join Valentina. “I bought eggs, bread and avocados so we can do poached eggs with smashed avocado on toast” Juliana added.

“Ok but I hope you can understand that I can’t cook so all I can do is put the bread in the toaster” Valentina laughed whilst unpacking the bag.

“How have you survived here all this time?!” Juliana pretended to be shocked.

“The Uber Eats and Deliveroo drivers know me by name” Valentina laughed and Juliana joined in.

“Well I’ll do the food and you watch and take notes” Juliana said whilst washing her hands in the sink.

Making breakfast didn’t take long which shocked Valentina as for some reason she thought it would take longer to poach eggs. Juliana was pleasantly surprised by how natural the feeling was, of them being domesticated together. It was something Juliana thought she definitely wanted to get used to. Juliana enjoyed Valentina’s company more than anything, just being around her and basking in her energy. She was enjoying getting to know everything about Valentina, from the glint that appeared in her eyes when she laughed to the way her forehead creased as she stared at the egg in the pot as if she was cooking it with her eyes.

Juliana plated up the food and they both sat on the stools accompanying the island adjacent to the kitchen units. Juliana was about to tuck in when Valentina shouted and stopped her.

“Wait!” Valentina shrieked and Juliana looked horrified.

“What’s wrong?” Juliana said recovering from the interruption.

“I want to capture the moment” Valentina said whipping her phone out of her back pocket.

“You decided to scare me half to death to take an Instagram story?” Juliana rolled her eyes.

“Not for Instagram no, but I like to capture memories, after my Dad died I really struggled because I didn’t have a lot to look back on, most of our pictures are from when I was a child, so from then I decided to capture all significant moments” Valentina explained with a slightly forlorn expression on her face.

“And tell me, what is the significance of this moment?” Juliana asked partially fishing for a compliment if she was completely honest with herself.

“Well it’s the first time anyone has cooked for me since I moved here, that isn’t a restaurant, and technically the first time the kitchen has been used properly” Valentina sounded like she was going to continue but stopped herself.

“This is slightly concerning but ok take your photo” Juliana smiled for the camera. “Now let’s eat before the eggs go cold”

They ate in a relatively comfortable silence, which was only really interrupted by Valentina paying compliments to the chef. Juliana tried to explain that it really wasn’t a difficult thing to make but Valentina continued to act as if she’d just eaten at a Michelin starred restaurant, which Juliana thought was adorable. The closer they got to the end of the meal, the more Juliana felt like the elephant in the room was growing. Juliana knew that she had come over here to discuss everything and now that they had eaten, there was nothing else preventing them from having the conversation they desperately needed to have. Juliana started to sweat as she became nervous about publicly addressing her feelings towards Valentina again. Valentina must have sensed the change in atmosphere as she started the conversation.

“This is weird for me as well you know, I’ve never felt like this about another girl before either” Valentina offered which Juliana took as a signal to relax a little bit.

“I’ve never thought about being gay” Juliana choked out and Valentina took her hand, gently stroking it with her thumb, and there it was again, that electric feeling.

“Who knows if we are or not Juliana, I don’t think we need to think about that right now” Valentina squeezed Juliana’s hand.

“Then what do we think about?” Juliana asked tentatively.

“This feeling that we get when we’re together, I know you must feel it too or you wouldn’t have called me yesterday” Valentina responded, and Juliana knew she was right.

“You sound like you have it all figured out” Juliana was jealous and Valentina looked confused.

“Believe me I don’t, I’m the type of person to feel first and think later, and I think you’re the complete opposite” Valentina paused to take a sip of her drink, but she didn’t let go of Juliana’s hand. “But these past couple of weeks have given me a chance to think and I know that I must have scared you so I propose a new plan” Valentina stopped to read the expression on Juliana’s face which just screamed panic.

“What plan?” Juliana asked.

“Let’s focus on being friends first, you were right before when you said we just met, so we can continue to do things like this and get to know each other” Valentina explained.

Juliana wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or grateful, or both. Friends. Friends was ok, friends was good, Juliana was sure that she could do friends. But just friends? She hadn’t spent two weeks formulating every possible scenario in her head for the result to be friends. Because friends don’t have the feelings she had, friends don’t want to kiss each other. Juliana couldn’t hide the confusion from her face.

“What’s wrong?” Valentina asked.

“Nothing, I just wasn’t expecting you to say let’s just be friends I guess” Juliana replied honestly.

“I’m not saying let’s only be friends forever Juls, but for now I think it’s the right thing because we need to not just get used to how we feel but to be comfortable in those feelings” Valentina paused when Juliana looked away, which prompted Valentina to reach out and turn Juliana’s face towards her until they made eye contact, however, Valentina’s touch made Juliana lose her concentration slightly as she revelled in the feeling of Valentina’s soft fingers on her skin. “Me telling you how I felt caused you to freak out and ignore me for two weeks, so what I’m saying is, let’s stop trying to run before we even learn how to walk” Valentina added.

Juliana kind of understood what Valentina meant but she couldn’t shake the overwhelming look of disappointment on her face. She didn’t know what to say to Valentina who was waiting expectantly.

“I don’t know what to say” Juliana sighed.

“This is exactly it Juls, honestly if this was supposed to be more than friends now, you would know for sure so let’s not force anything” Valentina sounded so calm and it made Juliana feel insecure because her thoughts were travelling at a thousand miles per hour in her head.

“So…you don’t want more anymore?” Juliana said so quietly she wasn’t even sure if Valentina heard her.

“Juls look at me” Valentina waited but Juliana avoided eye contact because she just wasn’t ready to be rejected. “Juliana please” Valentina’s voice broke and when Juliana eventually looked at her, she could see tears forming behind sad blue eyes. “I don’t want you to think like this, I just think we are dealing with a lot of emotions, yesterday when you called, I had already given up because it had been so long since we spoke, so when you called I was so cold with you at first, but then when we spoke everything hit me all over again, and last night after we texted, I was thinking that we need time to process everything so we know for sure” Valentina explained and all Juliana picked up on was the “for sure” at the end.

“So now you’re not even sure about how you feel?” Juliana questioned.

“Juliana…I’ve never felt like this about anyone…ever…girl or boy, and it scares me…but I’m more scared of you running away and us losing what we have because we’re not ready to have it yet so that’s why I’m saying to remove the pressure and be friends and just spend more time together” Valentina spoke passionately and Juliana could see Valentina pleading at her with her eyes, and she knew that she couldn’t say no to that look.

“Friends?” Juliana sounded a toddler learning a new word for the first time.

“Friends” Valentina smiled, and she jokingly held her other hand out for Juliana to shake.

“Idiot” Juliana laughed whilst swotting it away.

Valentina got up, pulling Juliana up with her as she realised that they were still holding hands. Juliana was led over to the sofa and Valentina picked up the remote switching the TV on. Despite the sofa being large enough to accommodate a small army of people, Juliana found herself sat directly next to Valentina who plonked herself in the corner seat. Friends. Just like Monica and Chandler.

“Right so first friend task is to watch a film since you don’t start work until later right?” Valentina sounded like a small child who had just been told they can stay up past their bedtime.

“Yes at half 5 Val” Juliana laughed at her childishness.

“Ok what film shall we watch? I have Netflix” Valentina said as she opened the application on the screen.

Juliana couldn’t help but laugh when Valentina scrolled down past the ‘continue watching’ section and the first film was ‘Friends with Benefits’.

“Were you doing some preparation for our conversation today?” Juliana decided to relieve the tension and tease Valentina, which only caused her to blush.

“Shut up! No! I started watching it last week with the some of the girls from uni” Valentina replied holding a cushion up in front of her face.

“It’s ok if you were, I’ve seen it before, it’s a good film” Juliana continued and Valentina proceeded to hit her with the cushion.

“Hey!!!” Juliana screeched in shock and picked up a cushion to retaliate but Valentina managed to block herself, and Juliana realised she was disadvantaged because Valentina had longer arms than her. “Fine, I give up” Juliana folded her arms and pretended to sulk.

“Are you able to stop sulking to help me choose a film?” Valentina sounded smug.

“Only because I don’t want to end up watching shit” Juliana was salty.

“Well I was going to suggest one that I wanted to watch, it’s called Despite Everything, it’s one of the new Netflix original’s since they started investing heavily into Spanish film and TV, it has the main characters from Cable Girls and Gran Hotel, its about these four sisters wh-“ Valentina was swiftly cut off mid-ramble.

“We might as well just watch it because I feel like you will go on and on about it until I say yes” Juliana rolled her eyes.

“See you know me so well already” Valentina chirped and pressed play.

After the first few minutes, Valentina stretched out her legs (perks of the corner seat) and pulled Juliana into her so they were half-lying next to each other. Juliana inhaled her scent again as if it was the last oxygen source on Earth but then felt subconscious about it as she was pretty sure friends don’t smell each other like that. Juliana felt Valentina snuggle into her further and she momentarily froze when she felt Valentina’s breath on her neck, which caused every single hair on her body stand up. Juliana mentally told herself to relax and to try and concentrate on the film.

* * *

_16:43_

Juliana wasn’t sure if it had been scientifically proven, but she was pretty sure someone staring at you in your sleep can cause you to wake up, because she opened her eyes and saw shiny blue eyes doing exact that. Juliana tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes when Valentina began to smile softly at her. Butterflies erupted in her stomach as she took in the intensity of Valentina’s gaze.

“We fell asleep” Juliana croaked out feeling extremely disorientated.

“You did, I watched the film” Valentina responded gently, and Juliana realised that Valentina was softly stroking her hair.

In fact, Juliana realised her actual position on the sofa. Valentina was no longer lying down, she was sat upright with Juliana’s head in her lap. Juliana was confused as to how they managed to end up in this position. However, she wasn’t complaining, it was one of the most beautiful feelings she had ever felt. She honestly felt completed relaxed, just being held by Valentina. Juliana could have laid there all night but she hadn’t forgotten that she had a job to attend.

“What time is it?” Juliana spoke more clearly this time.

“Time for you to go to work probably, I was going to wake you up before, but you looked so peaceful” Valentina mused.

“Shit am I that late?” Juliana began to look for her phone to check the time.

“No, you’ll still be on time I think, it’s not that far, I can call you an Uber” Valentina offered and Juliana nostrils flared. “Only to the tube station so you don’t have to rush” Valentina quickly added.

“Thank you, yes please” Juliana smiled knowing that Valentina wasn’t trying to flaunt her money.

Juliana got up to gather her things whilst Valentina fiddled on her phone calling her an Uber. She felt torn because she didn’t want to leave but knew that she had to. Juliana chastised herself for falling asleep and missing out on valuable time with Valentina, then again maybe it was worth it to wake up in her arms like that.

“It’ll be here in a few minutes so I’ll come down with you because I want to ask the concierge where the plumber is” Valentina said putting on some fluffy slippers.

They stood in the lift in a comfortable silence until Juliana suddenly remembered her weekend plans.

“Oh on Sunday my housemates are throwing a BBQ if you’d like to come?” Juliana asked nervously. If they were friends, why did it feel like she was asking Valentina on a date?

“Text me the time and the place and I’ll be there” Valentina smiled and Juliana wanted to do a mini happy dance but that was entirely inappropriate.

When they got to the ground floor the concierge was there again and Juliana couldn’t help but show her disdain.

“The normal guy is on holiday, so this creep is here for now, but he’ll be gone next week so every cloud” Valentina leaned across to whisper in Juliana’s ear.

By the time they got outside, the Uber driver was already waiting for Juliana, so she turned around to say goodbye to Valentina and was immediately pulled into a hug. Valentina squeezed her again and Juliana was pretty sure the length of the hug fell beyond the normal friend boundary. Juliana reluctantly pulled apart because she didn’t want the driver to leave her behind.

“I can’t wait to see you again and I haven’t even left yet” Juliana eyes bulged as she did not expect that sentence to fall out of her own mouth.

“Ring me later when you get home from work” Valentina smiled.

“It’ll be late Val” Juliana deadpanned.

“So what? I have deadlines so I’ll probably still be awake anyway” Valentina pushed her own hair behind her ear.

“Ok I will, bye” Juliana said getting into the car.

“Have a good shift” Valentina said poking her head through the window to quickly kiss Juliana on the cheek.

The Uber driver pulled away from the kerb and Juliana leant back into the seat wondering how long the friend zone was going to last. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Despite Everything is a real life film recommendation, it's one of those easy watches if you ever get bored!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a gentle reminder that this story does have an M rating haha  
> Valentina's POV  
> As always, thank you for all the feedback!

_13:54_

Valentina knuckles were sore as she continued to pummel the punching pads that her instructor was holding up. Valentina threw her entire weight behind each punch. This was her championship fight and she wasn’t going to lose. Each punch brought her closer to victory. Every punch that she landed released the tension in her body. Valentina was frustrated. _Extremely_ frustrated. A boxercise class was the only solution she came up with to release some of the knots that had formed all over her body.

Valentina’s instructor called time and she made her way over to the bench. She sat down and grabbed a small white towel from her gym bag. Sweat had formed in every crevice of Valentina’s body by this point so she prioritised and used her towel to wipe the sweat from her face. Valentina clenched her jaw because she still couldn’t shake the frustration. She needed to release more endorphins but no amount of boxercise would be enough. There was only one thing, or person, that would be.

“What’s got into you? You’re like an animal today Valentina” her instructor asked noticing Valentina’s added intensity.

“Nothing, it’s just uni deadlines” Valentina lied.

Valentina had to lie because if she told the truth, she would’ve seemed like a crazy person. Because that’s what Juliana had done to her, she had made her crazy. Juliana was on her mind every minute of every day, like a broken record. Even stupid nonsensical things reminded her of Juliana. Yesterday she was in a coffee shop and she saw someone eating poached eggs, which flooded Valentina’s brain of their breakfast together which left her so unbelievably tongue-tied that she ordered the wrong coffee.

It had only been three days since they last saw each other in Valentina’s flat and it felt like a life time. Valentina likened herself to a crack addict going through withdrawal. And she didn’t know why because they were literally texting or talking on the phone whenever they got a chance. This was another problem for Valentina. Juliana wasn’t even aware of the effect that she had on Valentina. Juliana’s laugh on the other end of the phone made Valentina feel like the sun was shining internally in her body. Juliana’s tired husky voice when she got home from work made Valentina so sexually frustrated she had never slept worse since she moved to London.

The most infuriating thing was Valentina brought this entire situation on herself by creating the friend zone. For her it was the worst possible solution because she didn’t need to explore her feelings, she knew what they were and what they meant, and that she never wanted to suppress them. All she wanted to do when Juliana woke up in her arms was to lean down and kiss her, but she didn’t so she just smiled at her instead. Valentina was struggling, but, deep down she knew that it was the best thing for Juliana. She wanted Juliana to feel safe and comfortable coming to terms with her feelings and vocalising them before moving into a situation where they acted upon them. But it was difficult, that’s the reason why Valentina was here at the gym, she needed to punch something because last night when Juliana told her that she had dreamt about kissing her the night before, Valentina nearly self-combusted.

“Well if you put as much effort into writing those essays as you just did trying to beat me up, then I’m sure you’ll pass with flying colours” her instructor joked whilst he got up to get ready for his next trainee.

Valentina shrugged her shoulders and reached into her gym bag looking for her phone. It was irritating that her uni group chat only seemed to become active when she was actually doing something. Valentina was skim reading the chat when she was surprised to see that a few of her friends were arranging to meet at her flat.

**Valentina: As much as mi casa es su casa, I’ve only just finished at the gym so I’m not back yet**

_Lucy: Don’t worry love, we’re already_ _here, the concierge let us up_

Valentina rolled her eyes in amusement at the situation. She decided to just shower at home since she already had visitors and the gym was only down the road from her flat. She saw this as the perfect opportunity to call the person who had taken up permanent residence in her mind.

“Hi Val, how are you?” Juliana spoke quickly.

“I’m good, I just finished at the gym so I’m walking home, is everything ok?” Valentina sounded concerned.

“Yes everything’s fine, I’m just at work so you caught me off-guard when you called” Juliana’s voice returned to the normal angelic speed.

“Ahh ok, why you are at work already, it’s early” Valentina questioned unaware of the change to Juliana’s schedule.

“I swapped shifts with someone so I could finish earlier tonight because the BBQ is tomorrow, and it’s nice that my housemates included me so I want to help them set-up and not be too tired” Juliana explained.

“Aww that’s nice, one sec, my signal might cut out as I’m about to get into the lift” Valentina replied whilst politely waving at the concierge as she walked past him. “Juls can you hear me?” Valentina spoke again once she stepped out into her flat. “Hi guys” Valentina greeted her friends already lounging about on the sofas.

“Yes I can” Juliana responded.

“Ok good, what time is it tomorrow?” Valentina asked.

“What time is what?” Sergio interrupted.

“Not you Sergio, if you could tear your eyes away from FIFA for two minutes you could see that I’m on the phone” Valentina barked before continuing. “Sorry, Juls carry on”.

“Who’s Juls?” Lucy decided it was her turn to join the conversation.

“My friend Juliana, who is having a BBQ tomorrow, but you know what? I won’t end up going at this rate because you all keep interrupting our conversation” Valentina raised her voice again and she could hear Juliana giggling on the other end of the phone.

“Val it’s fine, calm down, get here around 4ish I think” Juliana laughed.

“Wait can we come?” Sergio asked and if this was a cartoon, Valentina would have steam coming out of her ears.

“No Sergio!” Valentina shouted.

“Jeez, calm down, are you on your period?” Sergio asked pushing Valentina’s final button.

“They can if they want to but only if you want them to come, I don’t mind” Juliana’s voice seemed to calm Valentina down a little bit.

“Ok I’ll tell them” Valentina lied knowing she had no intention of doing so. She wanted the BBQ to be her thing with Juliana, so her friends were never going to receive an invite.

“Cool, well I have to go now before they send a search party for me, I’ll call you later” Juliana spoke softly.

“Te quiero” Valentina’s mouth fell open as she realised what had just slipped out of her mouth. She hoped her friends hadn’t heard her because she didn’t even say I love you to them. She wanted to hit herself on the head. Luckily, they were so engrossed in virtual football that they didn’t notice.

“Bye Val” Juliana responded before she hung up the phone. Valentina couldn’t help but feel a little despondent because she didn’t say it back.

Valentina walked over to one of the drawers in the kitchen unit and took out some takeaway leaflets and chucked them at her friends.

“Ah nice I’m starving!” Alex cheered.

“Shotgun pizza” Leanne added.

“But we had pizza yesterday” Lucy complained.

“So? Is there a law which stipulates maximum pizza consumption in one week?” Leanne replied.

“Yeah I’m team Leanne, I’m good with pizza” Sergio chipped in.

“Order whatever, I’m going to have a shower” Valentina spoke before making her way to the staircase.

Valentina quickly shed her gym clothes and before she walked into her en-suite bathroom. She opened the door to the shower and chucked her towel onto the toilet before she stepped inside. Although she had no input in the decision to live in this flat, she was grateful for the unnecessarily large shower head as she felt the hot water hit her shoulder blades. She began to relax as the heat slowly seeped into her muscles. Valentina rotated her head around to get her hair fully wet before she applied some shampoo. After rinsing her hair, she decided to apply conditioner instead of a second round of shampoo as her hair wasn’t that dirty.

Valentina closed her eyes and leaned against the cool tiles whilst she waited for her conditioner to work its magic, and her mind drifted back to its default setting, Juliana. Always Juliana. Valentina imagined what their first kiss would be like, whether it would be soft and gentle or something stronger and full of passion. Valentina pictured Juliana’s lips against hers, imagining the smoothest texture encompassed with the sweetest taste. Valentina physically bit her own lip at the thought of Juliana’s tongue against her own, fighting for control and dominance of their kiss. Valentina imagined them pulling apart, breathless, and Juliana planting slow kisses along her jaw line and then slowly sucking on her pulse point. The shower began to feel hotter than it actually was and Valentina slowly realised that she wasn’t just wet from the water pouring out of the shower head. She refrained last night because she wanted to stick to her own friend zone rules, but, now the ache deep in her abdomen was too strong. Valentina was tightly wound up like a small coil and she needed the release. There was no harm in it and she would simply elect not to share this information with Juliana.

Valentina stepped back under the shower head with her eyes still closed, and she used the water to slide her hand across her body. Valentina imagined that the feathery touches were in fact coming from Juliana’s hands. As she brushed past her nipples, she could feel how erect they were, and the image of Juliana’s mouth clamped around one of them shot through her mind. She felt Juliana’s teeth nipping away as she squeezed her own rock-hard nipple. Valentina moaned softly as she continued to guide her hands down towards the ache. The ache grew stronger as she imagined what Juliana’s breathy moans would sound like. She wondered how smooth Juliana’s skin would feel under her own touch. She slowly slipped her hands through her folds and gasped when she realised how wet she actually was. Just as she began to press against her small bundle of nerves, her eyes flew open as she heard a bang on the bathroom door.

“What?!” Valentina screamed in frustration and she heard the door creep open a little bit, causing her to quickly remove her hand from in between her legs.

“Sorry to interrupt, I’m not looking I promise, but you have the deciding vote on food, as Sergio and Leanne want pizza but Alex and I don’t so it’s up to you” the voice of the most irritating person in the entire universe belonged to Lucy.

“I really don’t give a shit, I can’t believe you knocked to ask me what to order” Valentina was enraged and muttered “puta”, “coño” and some other Spanish expletives under her breath.

“Yeah sorry about that, but can you choose because we’ve been bickering since you came up here?” Lucy continued.

“Pizza” Valentina responded. “Now in the nicest way possible, GET OUT!” Valentina shouted the last part and Lucy closed the door.

Valentina sighed. The mood was gone, it had completely died. She was even more frustrated than she was before now. She rinsed the rest of the conditioner out and washed her body before exiting the shower. She threw some random clothes on before making her way back downstairs wanting nothing more than to chuck her friends out of her flat.

* * *

_19:32_

“Let’s go out tonight” Lucy suggested, and Leanne screeched in excitement.

“I never say no to a spontaneous night out” Alex replied and it was true, he never did.

“Yes please guys, oh my god let’s do it, I haven’t been drunk in ages” Leanne added and even after nine months, Valentina was still amazed by the British binge-drinking mentality. Leanne was the current group chat photo because she got absolutely wasted last week.

“I thought you said you were never drinking again after last week” Valentina questioned.

“New week, new me babes” Leanne responded and high-fived Alex.

“I wasn’t planning on it but I don’t mind” Sergio reluctantly agreed.

“I can’t be bothered to be honest” Valentina responded flatly.

“Why not?” Lucy sounded so concerned as if Valentina had just told her that she only had a week left to live.

“I’m just not in the mood, I’m tired” Valentina replied hoping they wouldn’t push her too hard.

“But Valentina, now you’re single, this is your prime opportunity to go out” Lucy reasoned.

“Exactly, the best way to get over someone is to get under someone” Leanne added the worst possible advice ever.

“I’m not trying to get over anyone, nor do I want to get under someone” Valentina replied knowing the last part was technically a lie.

“You’ve forgotten about Lucho already, fantastic” Sergio said with sarcasm dripping from his voice.

“Don’t start again Sergio” Valentina rolled her eyes, not needing to have another disagreement about the end of her relationship with Lucho.

“Aaaaaaaanyways, come on Valentina, everyone else is up for it, if you say yes, you can choose the bar” Leanne tried to give her best ‘Puss in Boots’ eyes and Valentina could sense everyone staring at her. She hated peer pressure.

“Fine but I’m not staying out for long” Valentina rolled her eyes. “But I’m choosing the bar, so everyone go home and get ready and I’ll put my decision in the group chat, let’s meet there at 10” Valentina noticed everyone getting up and ready to leave before she’d even finished her instructions.

After everyone left, Valentina had the perfect plan in place in her head, and just needed to text Juliana to confirm if it would work.

**Valentina: Hey Juls, what time do you finish tonight?**

_Juliana: Midnight why?_

**Valentina: I’m being dragged out by my friends so the only thing that can make my night any good is if I see you so we’ll be there around 10**

_Juliana: I swear you are stalking me_

**Valentina: If you want me to stalk you, I can do it better than this trust me**

_Juliana: Hahaha idiot, see you later_

**Valentina: If you listen carefully, you can hear me smiling from my flat**

Valentina put her phone down to focus on her next task. Choosing an outfit that would make Juliana’s jaw drop. Valentina had no intention of forcing Juliana out of the friend zone. She would never tell her that she needed to act upon her feelings because she wanted Juliana to make that decision for herself. But Valentina saw absolutely no harm in subtly teasing Juliana a little bit to speed that decision-making progress along a little bit. Plus, after what Valentina experienced in the shower earlier, she wanted Juliana to feel as turned on as she was. Valentina put on her tightest fitting jeans, which happened to be black which she appreciated because everyone looks their best in black. She chose to wear a white lace bodysuit that Lucy had previously bought her. It wasn’t exactly her usual style, but without being too arrogant, Valentina knew that she looked good in it, plus it often attracted a lot of eyes to her breasts which was the exact target area for when she saw Juliana later. She decided to finish the outfit off with a pair of heeled boots. Valentina decided to wear her hair up in a high ponytail, so her collarbone and shoulders would be exposed. She applied minimal make up, only really doing her eyes because luckily she was blessed with having decent skin. Valentina smiled when looking at herself in the mirror because if this outfit didn’t impress Juliana, then she really didn’t know what would.

* * *

_22:19_

Valentina had just arrived at the bar, meandering through the crowd finally joining her friends in the booth that they found. She had ended up running a little bit late because Guille had called her for a catch up. With the time difference, she always made time to speak to her brother because she missed him more than anything else in the world.

“Damn girl, for someone who doesn’t want to get under someone tonight, you sure look like you do” Alex exclaimed and Valentina kind-of appreciated his back-handed compliment.

“Alex just because Valentina is dressed like that does not mean she is asking for male attention, how many times have I told you that the way a woman dresses is not an invitation for sex” Lucy snapped.

“Sorry I didn’t see that you were wearing your ‘I’m a feminist’ t shirt tonight” Alex continued to joke.

“God, you’re such a dickhead sometimes Alex” Lucy retaliated.

“Hey, we came to get drunk, not argue, make love not war and all that blah blah, but yeah Valentina you look fire which is what Alex meant” Leanne decided to play peacemaker on this occasion.

“Well thank you, all of you” Valentina smiled.

During this awkward minor confrontation, Valentina noticed that all of her friends had their own drinks, marking it as this as the perfect opportunity to find Juliana at the bar. She excused herself and pushed through the crowd to get closer to the bar. The first thing Valentina spotted was Juliana’s ass as she had her back to the bar, filling up a glass with a shot of what looked like vodka. Valentina dragged her eyes away and firmly back to friend zone level territory. The bar was slightly busy but fortunately Valentina managed to slip into a now empty spot as someone left with their drinks. Valentina stood excitedly waiting in anticipation for Juliana to notice her. Juliana spun round and walked straight to the other end of the bar to Valentina’s annoyance to give her customer their drink. Another member of staff came across to Valentina asking what drink she wanted. Valentina was going to order and come back again later but she was impatient, so she told the bartender that she knew Juliana so wanted her to serve her. Valentina got a strange look back but she didn’t care as she saw Juliana smile when he relayed her message.

As Juliana arrived in front of Valentina, she identified the precise moment when Juliana noticed what she was wearing. She saw Juliana lick her lips as her eyes raked over the whole top half of her body. Valentina smirked as she had achieved her main goal for the night. She saw Juliana’s forehead crease as she tried to redirect her gaze to Valentina’s face.

“You look nice” Juliana voice sounded shaky.

“I like to make an effort sometimes” Valentina smirked.

“Well, let me know how many guys hit on you at the end of the night” Juliana chuckled.

“Juls, there’s only one person I want to hit on me tonight and trust me, it isn’t a he” Valentina flirted directly looking into Juliana’s eyes and she was pretty sure that she saw them darken. “So…are you not going to ask me what I want to drink?” Valentina asked.

“Actually…that reminds me, I have the perfect drink for you” Juliana said turning around leaving Valentina intrigued. She came back with a shot glass. “Try that” Juliana said handing Valentina the shot, which she happily knocked back. Valentina purred at the familiar taste.

“I thought you didn’t sell mezcal” Valentina smiled.

“Well, I spoke to the owner and made a request” Juliana replied matching Valentina’s smile, handing her another shot. “For when you go back to your friends” Juliana continued.

“If this wasn’t my favourite bar before, it certainly is now, how much do I owe you?” Valentina asked and honestly, she just wanted to jump over the bar and claim Juliana as her own.

“On the house” Juliana replied.

“Juls…no I can pay for my drinks re-” Valentina tried to protest but she was interrupted.

“What’s the point in having a friend who works in a bar if you don’t get free drinks?” Juliana laughed as she walked away to serve another customer.

Valentina didn’t even get back to her seat before she drank her second shot of mezcal. Friend. Really? After Juliana had literally eye-fucked her when she saw her and at the end of the conversation she called Valentina her friend. As Valentina felt the mezcal burn the back of her throat, she tried to be rational. Juliana said friend because that’s what they were, and Valentina needed to be ok with that for now. It was still irritating though so when she sat back down with her friends, she sunk into the seat wanting to go home.

* * *

_00:04_

Valentina was sat with her friends talking about something completely unimportant when her phone vibrated in her pocket. The fact that she only people she regularly spoke to with her English number were all sat next to her, meant that she had a pretty good guess who the sender of the text was.

**Juliana: I just finished, come to the back exit if you want, I’m getting fresh air**

_Valentina: On my way_

Valentina sprang out of her seat and told her friends she was going to the toilet. The gave her an odd look because they knew that Valentina hated using public toilets. Ok so maybe she could’ve come up with a more realistic lie, but she was thinking on her feet so it would have to do. She followed the emergency exit sign and looked left and right when the fresh air hit her. Then she saw her, the girl that was currently lighting up her entire world, stood facing away from her on the phone. Valentina slowly approached her so she didn’t scare her and she could overhear her conversation. Valentina knew that she was talking to her mum as she heard her say “Lupe”. Juliana shot her one of those ‘sorry’ looks and she could hear Juliana’s answers getting shorter and shorter, trying hurry her mum off the phone.

After a couple of minutes, Juliana hung up the phone which snapped Valentina out of her trance. She found Juliana incredibly captivating as she continuously rolled her eyes and ran her fingers through her hair. Valentina thought that it was a mixture of cute and sexy.

“Sorry, every time my mum rings, it’s like talking to airport immigration, she asks so many questions” Juliana tried to explain.

“No it’s fine, she cares and she misses you, it’s nice” Valentina responded.

“Yeah I guess you’re right…anyway…how are you?” Juliana asked awkwardly looking at her feet.

“Why won’t you look at me?” Valentina asked softly.

“It’s because I don’t know what to do…how to greet you…are we supposed to hug?” Juliana responded tentatively.

“Juliana…friends can hug each other it’s fine” Valentina responded and she decided to hold her arms out so Juliana felt less awkward.

As soon as Juliana stepped forward into her arms, Valentina wrapped her arms around Juliana’s shoulders as she was taller than her, and Juliana’s arms rested on her waist. Hugging Juliana was quickly becoming Valentina’s favourite hobby because the feeling she got every time they held each other was just exquisite. Juliana was her happy place and all of the frustration that she had been feeling all day that caused her to unnecessarily snap at her friends, ceased to exist. Valentina felt amazed that someone could have such a calming effect on her she had never got this feeling from anyone before. Valentina decided to change the position of her hands, so they were now resting on either side of Juliana’s rib cage, which created a sliver of space between them. Enough space so Valentina could lock eyes with Juliana’s dark ones and the intensity of the gaze between them was almost overwhelming. Valentina brushed her thumbs against Juliana’s sides and she heard Juliana take a sharp intake of breath, but this time she didn’t move. Progress. In that moment, Valentina wanted nothing more than to lean in and press her lips against Juliana’s because it really was the perfect moment. But she didn’t because she could still see a slight sense of panic behind Juliana’s eyes. It wasn’t on the same scale of when she initially told her that she liked her, but it was still there, and it was enough for Valentina to take a deep breath and take a step back, releasing Juliana from her hold. They stood face-to-face just looking at each other, both silently aware of the moment they had just shared. Juliana’s eyes began to get distracted again as they rested on Valentina’s chest, which Valentina found particularly amusing.

“I don’t want to be that person but my eyes are up here” Valentina laughed.

“Mierda, why did you wear that top?” Juliana sounded exasperated.

“I like it” Valentina half-lied.

“You know that when you lie, the tone of your voice goes higher” Juliana called her out.

“Well now that Villanelle shot her, maybe MI6 are looking for a replacement for Eve” Valentina joked and Juliana raised her eyebrow looking less than amused. “Do you want the truth?” Valentina asked testing the waters.

“I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know the truth” Juliana responded bluntly.

“Because although I wore this, part of me wants you to picture what is underneath this” Valentina replied boldly, taking the risk of scaring Juliana off again.

That thought soon disappeared when she saw Juliana’s eyes darken. She had quite literally left Juliana open-mouthed. Honestly, she was catching flies. Valentina couldn’t do anything other than smirk as she saw Juliana’s thought process hit system failure. Valentina was just stood there staring at her when she noticed someone appear at the exit.

“Oh Juliana you’re still here” some random guy said prompting Juliana to spin around.

“Yeah…I…erm..was-“ Juliana was lost for words.

“I’m Valentina, her friend, we were just chatting before she went home” Valentina offered her hand and she exchanged a strong handshake.

“Ah cool, I just came out here for a cigarette on my break” the guy said fishing in his pockets for his lighter.

“See you next week Luke” ladies and gentlemen, Juliana was back in the room.

Juliana tugged on Valentina’s hand signalling for her to move and she followed Juliana around to the front of the bar. They stopped outside and Juliana turned to face Valentina.

“Sorry, I completely forgot that your friends are still inside, I’m going to head home but I’ll see you tomorrow right?” Juliana questioned and Valentina knew that she had regained her composure.

“I’ll leave with you, I’ll just text them, I didn’t want to come out anyway” Valentina replied.

“Are you sure? You haven’t even been here that long” Juliana asked.

“Yeah honestly it’s fine, they won’t care, they’ll be drunk soon anyway” Valentina reasoned.

“Ok well I was going to get the tube”

“Let’s just get an Uber together again” Valentina grabbed her phone from her back pocket.

“Val, now that I know how far away we are from each other, it’s not necessary” Juliana professed.

“Yes it is, it’s safer and it’s not an issue, I use the family business account if you must know so really we should take advantage of it” Valentina said flashing her pearly white teeth knowing that she would win Juliana round.

“Fine” Juliana pretended to be annoyed.

Valentina texted her group chat that she was leaving and that she’d see them in lectures on Monday. After a couple of minutes, the Uber driver arrived and they both got in. She quickly added Juliana’s address as the first stop since she had it in her phone from before. Everything was set except for the fact that the car had not started to move.

“Is there a problem?” Valentina asked.

“Sorry love, it’s just that this first stop you’ve added is in East London and I thought we were going the other way and I had planned on you being my last stop and clocking off soon” the taxi driver responded.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll get out” Juliana said motioning to open the door.

“No Juls” Valentina said grabbing her hand, tightening her grip to prevent Juliana from leaving the car. “What if you just stay at mine? We are going to yours tomorrow anyway” Valentina lowered her voice so that only Juliana could hear but she could still sense Juliana’s awkwardness. “I have a spare room, it’s fine you can sleep there” Valentina added and she could sense Juliana weighing up the idea in her head.

“Ok” Juliana eventually responded.

“Are you sure?” Valentina clarified.

“Yes Val” Juliana replied and Valentina had to fight to suppress the big goofy smile that was threatening to appear on her face.

“Ok great” Valentina hoped she didn’t sound too thrilled. “Can we cancel the first stop and just go to the second address then?” Valentina spoke louder directly addressing the driver.

“Absolutely fine love, sorry about that” the driver said as he began to pull away following the GPS.

Valentina didn’t want the driver to apologise, she felt like she had just won the lottery. Juliana was staying with her in her flat. Ok not in the same bed but it was still way more than she was expecting when she got into the taxi. Valentina looked out of the window, trying to focus on something else to calm her down. There was something magical about London at night, it was a city with this buzz at night that she hadn’t really experienced anywhere else, apart from New York. It was a city that didn’t sleep and the thought of that provided Valentina with comfort on her loneliest nights when she was missing her father.

Valentina had assumed that Juliana had fallen asleep in the taxi because she wasn’t speaking, nor could she sense her moving whilst she was looking out of the window. However, the assumption proved to be incorrect when she felt Juliana take her hand, sliding their fingers together. Valentina felt like her heart could burst when she first looked down at their intertwined hands and then at Juliana who was smiling straight at her. Valentina knew in that moment that Juliana was trying, trying to show her that what they were both feeling was as real as anything, and in that special unspoken moment, Valentina knew that she would wait until Juliana was ready, even if it took forever. Valentina raised their hands to her lips and she placed a soft kiss on Juliana’s hand before she put it back down on the seat between them. Valentina was so overcome with emotion at that point that she almost wanted to cry. Valentina wasn’t completely certain because of the dim lighting, but she was pretty sure that Juliana’s eyes were also watery.

They both held hands for the rest of the trip, which didn’t take too long as there was an unusual lack of traffic for a typical Saturday night. Valentina thanked the universe for being aware that Juliana was staying at her flat tonight. They both quickly said thank you to the driver before they walked into the reception of Valentina’s building. Valentina could see Juliana’s jaw clench when the concierge was quite obviously checking Valentina out. She whispered to Juliana to ignore him as they waited for the lift.

When they got up to the flat, they went over to the kitchen and Juliana poured herself some water. From a filtered jug of course, neither one of them had come all the way from Mexico to pollute their bodies with London’s horrible tap water. Valentina opened the fridge and grabbed a leftover pizza box from earlier as she heard Juliana’s stomach rumble in the lift.

“God this is good” Juliana moaned as she took a bite from her slice and Valentina’s mind travelled back to her shower earlier.

“I have a question actually, which may be a deal breaker in this friendship” Valentina tried to change the subject from the one currently occupying her mind.

“Oooooh…sounds serious…go ahead” Juliana played along.

“Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?” Valentina asked praying Juliana wasn’t raised in the wild.

“Fruit should never appear on pizza” Juliana responded and Valentina was relieved.

“Oh thank god, I thought our friendship was going to be short-lived” Valentina joked.

“Don’t worry, no Hawaiian’s will be ordered in my presence” Juliana laughed.

Juliana practically inhaled the leftover pizza meaning Valentina only managed to eat one slice because of the human pizza vacuum cleaner. An awkward silence was generated between them once the box was empty because the natural thing to do now was to go to sleep. Valentina knew that she had already offered the spare room to Juliana, but she really wanted Juliana to sleep with her. Not doing anything of course, but it would be nice to wake up together in the morning. Valentina could see Juliana nervously fiddling with the bottom of her t-shirt which was enough to slap the thought out of Valentina’s mind.

“The guys at uni say the bed in the spare room is super comfy, so I’ll grab you some shorts and a vest top to sleep in” Valentina spoke softly whilst moving towards the staircase.

“Thanks Val” Juliana responded quietly following Valentina up the stairs.

Valentina opened a cupboard at the top of the stairs and grabbed some clothes handing them to Juliana. There wasn’t much else to do to get Juliana prepared for bed because everything was already in the room.

“There is a bathroom attached to the room and it has new toothbrushes, towels, everything you need, my room is literally here on the left opposite yours if you need anything at all” now it was Valentina who sounded nervous.

“Thank you Val, I appreciate it” Juliana smiled.

Juliana stepped forward and they exchanged a hug. A hug that felt extremely awkward and ended far too quickly in Valentina’s opinion. Valentina watched Juliana walk into the room and wave before she closed the door. Valentina turned to open the door to her room and she muttered “idiota” under her breath. She quickly got changed, brushed her teeth and then got into bed.

* * *

_02:12_

Valentina couldn’t sleep. She was unable to relax because she kept chastising herself for that terrible exchange she had with Juliana before they went into their separate rooms. It was also a strange feeling, knowing Juliana was in her home sleeping in another room. Valentina was grateful for the spontaneous decision that her friends had made to go out because it meant that she had ended the night with Juliana in her flat again. But not in her bed with her. Valentina regretted not asking Juliana to stay in her room with her. It wouldn’t have been crossing a line because friends sleep together in the same bed all the time, didn’t they? It didn’t have to mean anything, it would’ve just been nice to give each other some comfort.

On the other hand, Valentina knew that she was lying to herself if she said that comfort was the only thing that she wanted from Juliana. She kept replaying the moment outside the bar over and over again in her head. Could it have been their first kiss? Maybe. But Valentina wanted to leave that up to Juliana because she wanted Juliana to be ready. However, part of Valentina felt insecure wondering if Juliana would ever be ready. What if she never came to terms with the fact that she had feelings for a girl? What if Juliana preferred to remain in the closet hiding because it was the easiest option for her? Valentina groaned as she turned in bed trying to find a more comfortable position. She stopped when she thought she heard a noise. Maybe she was just hearing things. But there it was again. Valentina realised that someone was knocking on her door. Well not someone, Juliana. Valentina could feel her heart rate increase tenfold in excitement as she told Juliana to come in.

“I couldn’t sleep” Juliana spoke quietly as she stood in the door way.

“Come here” Valentina responded holding the quilt up so Juliana would climb into the bed.

Juliana almost broke Usain Bolt’s world record as she ran into the bed which Valentina found comical. Juliana laid down with her back to Valentina, thanking her. However, Valentina had already missed her chance earlier so she decided that wasn’t going to miss it again. She shifted her body position and slid behind Juliana, wrapping her arm in front of her, effectively becoming the bigger spoon. Valentina felt Juliana immediately relax into their new position coupled up together. Ok so before her favourite hobby was hugging Juliana, but it was now spooning. Valentina was extremely content as she took in Juliana’s scent and she was pleased by how well their bodies fit together.

“Good night Val” Juliana mumbled.

“Sweet dreams Juls” Valentina whispered in response.

And as if by magic, where Juliana was the missing ingredient in the sleeping spell, Valentina drifted off to sleep almost immediately.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just wanted to clarify that Valentina broke up with Lucho in the two-week period where her and Juliana weren't speaking. I didn't write it because I don't want him to occupy too much of this fic like he did in the show lol but he will be back (spoiler alert)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The response to the last chapter was unbelievable so thank you everyone, it warms my lil heart honestly!  
> I don't know if I like this chapter, I've literally changed the ending about a million times but in the spirit of Bárbara's birthday, I'm uploading it anyway.
> 
> Juliana's POV

_09:41_

Juliana had never had the pleasure of experiencing a perfect night’s sleep before. Maybe she had when she was a young child, but her father’s chosen profession prevented her from truly relaxing at night due to the constant fear of hitmen raiding her house at any given moment. Working as a bartender since moving to London meant that her sleeping pattern was disordered. However, Juliana woke up this morning completely refreshed, feeling like she had been asleep for weeks. She felt the sun permeating through the blinds kissing her skin in all the right places. Every single muscle in her body was relaxed and Juliana felt like she had just spent a weekend in one of those expensive spa places. Juliana was pretty sure she was still dreaming until the familiar sensation of needing the toilet kicked in.

Juliana slowly opened her eyes to adjust to her surroundings and she suddenly remembered that she was in Valentina’s room. Well, Juliana wasn’t just in Valentina’s room, she was in her bed. And they had fallen asleep spooning. Juliana hesitated waking for the panic to set in but was surprised when it didn’t. Juliana turned to look at Valentina, who was now sleeping on her side facing her. How was it possible that Valentina could look so serene whilst she slept? Juliana laid there memorising all of the small details on Valentina’s face as she listened carefully to the small breaths coming from her nose. Juliana was marvelled by the sight of Valentina sleeping as she couldn't fathom how someone who usually exuberated so much energy, could be so motionless completely at peace. Juliana’s cheeks were being to ache from the smile that was plastered on her face as she saw Valentina’s nose twitching slightly as she stirred a little. It was quite possibly the cutest thing Juliana had ever seen.

Juliana’s concept of time seemed to falter as she continued to stare at Valentina. Maybe it was a little bit creepy, but Juliana was helpless, she was transfixed by her. Juliana only managed to tear her eyes away from Valentina because her need for the toilet began to outweigh anything else. Juliana looked around for the first time to take in Valentina’s room. She hadn’t had a chance to see it last night because it was too dark and despite her bravery when she knocked on Valentina’s door last night, fear kicked in causing her to sprint into the bed and slam her eyes shut. The bedroom just screamed Valentina, the pastel colours, the pot plants, boxes of puzzles, the desk covered in sheets of paper, a yoga mat rolled in the corner, photos and postcards dotted around the room. Juliana’s heart swelled as she saw a framed picture with a quote that read “only in the darkness can you see the stars”. Juliana admired how Valentina could still be so empathetic and compassionate despite all of the grief she had faced in her life.

Juliana cautiously rolled her body so she could slowly get up from the bed without waking Valentina up. She had just managed to stand on her feet, slowly tiptoeing one step towards the toilet when she realised that her plan to be stealth had failed.

“Where are you going?” Valentina sleepily croaked and Juliana thought Valentina’s raspy voice rivalled Mozart’s most famous symphonies.

“Just to the toilet” Juliana whispered as she turned to face her.

“The seat is heated” Valentina responded softly which prompted Juliana to start laughing because why would Valentina have a normal toilet like normal people? “Hmmm my favourite sound” Valentina mused causing Juliana to blush.

Juliana shuffled awkwardly and made her way into the toilet. The first thing she did was splash her face with water at the sink. The cold water was the necessary contrast to her current hot and red face. Juliana didn’t know how Valentina was able to spark so many emotions from her, especially with little passing comments like the one she just made. But the most overwhelming emotion that Valentina evoked from Juliana was something that she wasn’t even conscious of most of the time. Valentina made Juliana feel safe. Even last night when Juliana got into Valentina’s bed, she felt nervous but as soon as Valentina wrapped her arms around her, she relaxed because she was safe. Juliana felt tears threatening to fall from her eyes because feeling safe was something she had never been accustomed to. Growing up Juliana’s thought process had always told her to protect herself by running and never stopping to look back. But now she had met someone who prevented her from running. Not only that, Juliana _wanted_ to stop running.

Juliana quickly used the toilet as she realised that she had spent a slightly inappropriate length of time for someone who was just going to pee. As she emerged, butterflies erupted in her stomach as she eyed Valentina lounging across the bed wearing a toothy grin.

“I was beginning to think that you fell down the toilet” Valentina joked.

“It was the heated seat, I never want to pee in another bathroom again” Juliana bantered back and Valentina started laughing as she rolled over to allow Juliana to re-occupy her previous position.

Juliana strode over more confidently than last night and she got back into bed. She turned her body so both her and Valentina were laying on their sides facing each other. Juliana blushed under the intensity of Valentina’s gaze. It felt like those blazing blue eyes were staring straight into her soul, asking questions Juliana wasn’t sure she was ready to answer and she felt vulnerable. Juliana gulped as Valentina moved her arm to brush a strand of Juliana’s hair behind her ear. Juliana was surprised that Valentina didn’t acquire a third-degree burn as she came into contact with her ear as she was pretty sure it was on fire. Valentina smiled before she retracted her hand and opened her mouth as if she was ready to speak but didn’t know what to say.

“You know that I don’t bite right?” Valentina spoke softly but Juliana could hear the pang of sadness in her voice.

“I know Val…honestly I do…it’s just strange for me to be this close to someone…I’m not used to it” Juliana responded, and it was the truth, she didn’t know how to react to physical contact because she had never experienced that level of intimacy with anyone before.

“Ok let’s try something, do you trust me?” Valentina asked looking mischievous.

“Yes” Juliana spoke slowly worrying about what Valentina was about to ask her to do.

“I want to try a game, I used to play it with my dad but it might help, it’s about energy” Valentina said sitting up so she was sat crossed legged facing Juliana. “Copy me and sit like me” Valentina added and Juliana sceptically followed her instructions.

“Val” Juliana complained feeling slightly uncomfortable.

“No Juls just try it, hold your hands up like mine” Valentina insisted so Juliana reluctantly copied her. “You need to feel the trail of my energy, but you can’t see me, you have to close your eyes” Valentina explained.

Juliana closed her eyes just wanting whatever this silly task was to be over quickly. With the lack of sight, Juliana felt her other senses heighten and the first thing she took in was Valentina’s scent. It never ceased to amaze Juliana how sweetly she smelt, even after a full night’s sleep. Valentina’s scent made Juliana feel like she was lying in a field somewhere, with fresh flowers all around her and the sun shining on her skin. It was a scent that enchanted her and always left her craving more. Juliana felt Valentina’s fingertips touch her palms and Juliana’s mouth fell open slightly as she felt the electric sensation travel through every inch of her body. Juliana felt Valentina’s hands and trail of energy move down her forearms, up through her biceps and onto her shoulders, then resting on her forehead separating the parting in her hair, before finally cupping her face. Juliana was sure she was about to pass out as Valentina held her head in her hands. It was the most incredible feeling in the world, and in this precise moment, she had never felt more alive. The tension between them was palpable and Juliana’s eyes remained closed anticipating what Valentina was going to do next. Was Valentina going to kiss her now? Juliana’s answer was confirmed as she felt Valentina reposition her hands away from her face and onto her hair. Juliana was scared but she also knew that she wasn’t going to stop Valentina. Juliana felt ready enough for this moment. Juliana could sense Valentina leaning forward and her heart was beating erratically in her chest as she waited for the most significant moment in her life to happen. But the moment didn’t happen as they were interrupted by the sound of Valentina’s phone ringing. The loud shrill caused Juliana to spring backwards as the sudden noise scared her. As Juliana opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the devasted look on Valentina’s face before she turned to grab her phone.

Valentina answered the phone and from the tone in her voice when she said hello, Juliana knew she was completely uninterested in having a conversation with anyone but her right now. Juliana realised it was Valentina’s brother, which was strange considering the time difference. Juliana wondered why Guille would be calling Valentina now as it would be the middle of the night in Mexico City. Juliana hoped that nothing serious had happened but from the tone in Valentina’s voice as the conversation continued, she didn’t sound concerned or upset. Juliana saw Valentina get up and walk over to her desk, shoving the papers to the side before she opened her laptop.

Having Valentina out of her personal space gave Juliana the opportunity to process what had just happened. Juliana couldn’t help but feel a little overwhelmed because the past twelve hours or so felt like a whirlwind. She had gone from a normal day at work, to Valentina showing up with her friends, somehow ending up back at her flat, sleeping together in the same bed, waking up alongside the most beautiful human to ever grace planet Earth, to almost having her first kiss with said human being. They were supposed to be taking things slowly as friends, but it somehow felt like things were moving between them at an exponential rate, at least Juliana’s feelings for Valentina were anyway. Valentina turning up last night in that lace top sent Juliana’s mind into overdrive. It wasn’t just her mind though as Juliana’s body also gave her complete confirmation of one thing. She was irrefutably attracted to Valentina. There was even any point in trying to deny it to herself anymore. Before when Juliana dreamt about kissing Valentina, she told herself that it was because she had never kissed anyone before, so obviously her subconscious was just testing the waters in preparation for the humongous step. But the places her mind went to last night, when she saw Valentina in her lace top as she spotted her at the bar or when Valentina asked her to imagine what was underneath that same lace top outside the bar, Juliana felt an ache deep in her abdomen. Juliana was inexperienced yes, but she wasn’t stupid, she was aware that the feeling represented pure unadulterated sexual attraction. 

What Juliana struggled to wrap her head around was the fact that she wasn't even averse to the feeling anymore. She thought it would scare her but she actually felt excited last night. But there was a massive difference between being okay with her feelings in the safe sanctuary of her mind and acting upon them. That was like jumping over a cliff without a safety rope, which Juliana was absolutely petrified of. It was where Juliana was aware that there was a clear difference between herself and Valentina. Valentina was brave and wasn’t afraid of being so forward about her feelings, whereas Juliana felt like a coward. But she was trying which is why she chose to hold Valentina’s hand in the taxi last night. However, Juliana knew that if the situation just now was reversed, there was no way she would’ve initiated a kiss with Valentina. She just wasn’t there yet.

“Sorry it was Guille” Valentina spoke as she sat back down on the bed, dragging Juliana from her thoughts.

“Is he ok? It’s late there” Juliana asked and Valentina chuckled.

“Yes…actually he’s more than ok, he was drunk actually” Valentina paused whilst Juliana laughed. “He phoned to tell me that he’s in love and he wants me to meet the special woman who has changed his life, so he booked flights to come and see me” Valentina continued and Juliana thought she sounded a bit off.

“Really? That’s amazing but you don’t sound that excited” Juliana was confused.

“No I am…it’s just strange…Guille hasn’t been in a relationship for so long, honestly I was starting to think that he was gay” Valentina explained.

“Val!” Juliana exclaimed.

“Honestly Juls, it’s crazy, he sounded so happy which makes me unbelievably happy…I don’t know…I guess I’m also just missing out on a lot being so far away from him, I miss him a lot” Valentina sounded disappointed.

“Val, we both know how hard it is to be away from family, we’re a long way from home, but clearly Guille loves you and misses you, he’s flying all the way here just to introduce her to you, he wants to share that with you” Juliana tried to reason with Valentina.

“You’re right” Valentina smiled and the light had returned to her blue eyes.

“Yes like always” Juliana laughed at her own joke whilst Valentina rolled her eyes. “When is he coming?” Juliana asked.

“Next weekend” Valentina replied. “I said he can stay here with Renata…she is his assistant at the company, it’s beyond cute” Valentina explained.

“That’s adorable and it’ll be good for you to spend time with him” Juliana’s stomach growled as she spoke.

“Wow I’m surprised there’s even room in your stomach considering all the pizza you ate last night” Valentina’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Oh my god, no I did not, you had some too!” Juliana protested.

“I had one slice Juls” Valentina laughed.

“Oh I thought you had more” Juliana replied to which Valentina just raised her eyebrows at. “I was hungry!” Juliana proclaimed and her stomach rumbled loudly again. “And clearly I am again”.

“Come on Peppa, let’s go downstairs, we will have to order something” Valentina joked getting up from the bed.

“Oi!” Juliana shouted jokingly slapping Valentina on the arm, grabbing her phone before following Valentina out of the room.

When they got downstairs, Valentina suggested ordering from one of her favourite café’s on Deliveroo, which Juliana readily agreed to. They both walked over to the kitchen area, where Juliana took a seat on one of the stools, whilst Valentina busied herself making them both coffees. Juliana decided to check her phone to see that one of her housemates had texted her.

**Grace: You dirty stop out!! Hopefully you can tear yourself away from the lucky guy cos don’t forget it’s the BBQ today xx**

Juliana blushed at the thought of her housemates thinking she didn’t come home last night because she was sleeping with some random guy.

“What’s up?” Valentina looked curious.

“My housemate called me a dirty stop out” Juliana responded trying to get her embarrassment under control.

“A what?” Valentina obviously hadn’t heard this expression.

“It’s what they use when someone doesn’t come home for the night without giving an excuse, so the natural assumption is that they had a one-night stand, which is obviously just stupid because why would I have a ‘lucky guy’ as Grace said, it’s completely ridiculous because I am not like this, could you imagine if I did this, my mum would want to drown me in holy water, por dios!” Juliana was ranting and Valentina started laughing.

“Ok I understand, but Juls relax, it’s just the British nature to be so openly promiscuous, that’s why they have that show that my friend watches, Geordie Shore” Valentina explained handing Juliana her cup of coffee.

“I’ll just text her back and tell her that I am not with a random guy” Juliana spoke more calmly.

“Good idea” Valentina said sipping her coffee.

_Juliana: Hahaha no, I stayed at my friend’s house, and yes I’ll be back in a couple of hours don’t worry_

Juliana put her phone away and took a sip of her coffee. She hummed in content. Valentina may not be blessed in the cooking department, but she did have good taste in instant coffee. Valentina suggested that they move over to the sofa so they could relax and watch television together whilst they waited for the food to arrive. Once again, despite the relatively large sofa, Juliana found herself next to Valentina without an inch of space between them. Valentina rested the arm that she was holding her coffee with on Juliana’s leg. Juliana was proud that her leg didn’t involuntarily twitch so maybe she was slowly getting used to Valentina touching her all the time. Valentina was just flicking through the channels aimlessly when she stopped on some random documentary channel.

“What’s your favourite TV show?” Valentina asked.

“Not this one for sure” Juliana deadpanned and Valentina nudged her almost spilling her coffee.

“There’s nothing on because it’s Sunday morning so it’s a good opportunity to get to know each other…so tell me” Valentina insisted.

“I don’t know if I have a favourite, I don’t know really, I haven’t seen many because I didn’t have Netflix or anything until I moved into my house here, but Tom, one of my housemates, has his account on the living room TV” Juliana was shy that she didn’t have the extensive knowledge of modern culture that Valentina had.

“Ok but you can still answer from the ones you’ve seen, what was the last one you watched?” Valentina wasn’t taking no for an answer.

“Why do you care so much?” Juliana wasn’t annoyed, but she didn’t understand why Valentina was being so persistent.

“Because I want to know you, I want to know every detail, what shampoo you use, what time you were born, what food you hate, what your favourite TV show is” Valentina responded so passionately that Juliana was taken aback.

“I’m not that interesting” Juliana spoke so quietly looking at the floor as she accidentally voiced her thoughts out loud.

“Juliana look at me” Valentina requested and Juliana reluctantly locked eyes with her intense gaze again. “To me you’re the most interesting person I’ve ever met because to me you do…” Valentina picked up Juliana’s hand and placed it delicately on her soft skin directly over her heart. “This”. Juliana could feel Valentina’s heart beating through her chest, which sped up the rhythm of her own heartbeat. “I’m never going to stop wanting to know you Juls because to me this is the most real thing I have ever felt in my life so I want to experience every detail” Valentina’s words were so strong and Juliana didn’t know how to respond. She understood exactly what Valentina meant because she felt the same. Whatever it was between them was the strongest energy she had ever felt, it was magnetic. She just didn’t know how to show her.

“I love La Casa de Papel” Juliana eventually spoke and Valentina smiled whilst removing her hand from Juliana’s chest.

“It’s so good, amazing even, I’ve even got my English friends watching it” Valentina said excitedly.

“Please tell me they watch it in Spanish with English subtitles” Juliana sounded deadly serious.

“Of course, only uncultured people watch the dubbed versions” Valentina joked. “Favourite character?” She asked.

Just as Juliana was about to answer, the intercom rang signalling the arrival of the food. Valentina jumped up placing her mug on the side as she walked over to call the lift, waiting to go downstairs and collect their breakfast.

* * *

_17:42_

The BBQ was in full swing. The weather had really outdone itself as the ‘decent’ weather Grace that had spoken about, was in fact a full-blown heatwave. It was completely unexpected as they were still in spring, but global warming doesn’t particularly care what season you think you should be in does it? Although she should be used to the heat and the humidity coming from a country like Mexico, Juliana thought that the heat in London was completely different and almost unbearable. All the glass buildings trapped the heat causing everyone to suffer in the dense, unclean air. Plus, her few months in this country had taught her that despite the UK being at the forefront of numerous technological advances, air conditioning seemed to be one thing that had gone completely over their heads. The heat meant that copious amounts of cider, a beverage that Juliana obviously hadn’t tried but understood that it was British people’s drink of choice in hot weather, had already been consumed and everyone was getting rowdy. Juliana was used to it though as she encountered tipsy and drunk people every day at work, so felt relatively comfortable.

Juliana was sat outside on a garden chair in a large circle with her housemates and a few of their friends. It was a strange experience for Juliana as she never really engaged in big social settings at home. Juliana didn’t have a friendship group back in Mexico, only choosing to have separate friends that she saw on an individual basis. But she appreciated the moment as she was having a really good time and it seemed like everyone else was too. Juliana was also making the effort to keep up with the conversation, struggling at times because of the language and cultural barriers but Juliana persisted, and she was grateful for her housemates constantly trying to include her.

Juliana was temporarily distracted from the conversation when she caught sight of Valentina walking into the garden. They had decided that she would arrive later as Juliana wanted to go back home early to help set-up and it would’ve been boring for Valentina, plus Juliana reminded her that she still had deadlines to finish. Juliana was lost in a trance as she took in Valentina’s radiant appearance. She was wearing white wide-leg linen trousers and a blue bikini top that matched her eyes. Juliana’s eyes settled on Valentina’s taunt stomach which Juliana believed was sculpted by ancient Greek gods. It was the first time that Juliana had seen that area of her body and it thrilled her. Juliana subconsciously licked her lips as her eyes travelled upwards to Valentina’s chest. Juliana thought the lace top that Valentina wore to the club last night was distracting, but this was another level. Juliana was pulled away from unabashedly staring when she heard Danny speak.

“Do we know her?” Danny questioned.

“Yes, I invited her, we’re friends” Juliana responded quickly just before Valentina finally approached them.

“Hi, I’m Valentina” Valentina introduced herself to the group politely.

Juliana introduced her three housemates to Valentina and they were all lovely towards her, which put a smile on Juliana’s face. The only issue was there wasn’t a spare seat for Valentina as the garden was quite full by this point. Juliana noticed Valentina scan the area quickly, noticing the same issue. Juliana decided it would be easier to get up and look inside for another seat, but Valentina moved quickly before she could action her thoughts. She took a step towards Juliana and sat in her lap. Juliana blushed profusely at Valentina’s brashness which wasn’t made any easier as Valentina moved on top of her trying to find the most comfortable position. Juliana wasn’t sure if her internal body temperature was reaching critical levels because it was hot outside or because Valentina’s breasts were now in her direct eye line. Juliana’s senses felt overloaded as she took in Valentina’s fresh scent again, this time complimented by a floral perfume which quickly became Juliana’s new favourite. The most annoying thing was whilst Juliana was instructing her brain to follow the mechanics of breathing, Valentina seemed to be completely calm, enjoying herself even.

“How do you and Juliana know each other then?” Tom asked politely causing Valentina to brush her breasts against Juliana's cheek as she twisted to face him.

“We met at Salvador and Amanda” Valentina responded sweetly.

“Oh you work there too?” Tom questioned.

“No, I study here and I was on a night out so we met” Valentina replied moving her hand to rest on the inside of Juliana’s leg.

“Where are you from?” Tom asked again and as much as Juliana appreciated effort that Tom was making with Valentina, she wished it would stop as Valentina’s constant fidgeting was sparking a feeling deep inside Juliana that she thought was completely inappropriate at this present time.

“Mexico, same as Juls, but I’m from the capital” Valentina explained.

“Oh my god, you’re Mexican too, this is fantastic, we have Coronas if you want one?” Grace practically shouted and Juliana appreciated the sentiment even if it was slightly ignorant.

“Yeah sure” Valentina smiled pleasantly as Grace shot out of her seat to grab Valentina a beer. Juliana thought she could finally relax but was vastly mistaken as Valentina leant into her ear. “You look amazing by the way” Valentina whispered and Juliana wondered if she was going to spend the entire afternoon with a red face.

* * *

_23:33_

Most people had left by now as work wasn’t pleasant on a Monday at the best of times, let alone with a hangover. It meant that only Valentina and some other random guy who had passed out on their sofa were left. They were still sat outside together as a group exchanging life stories. Juliana was in awe of the way Valentina managed to capture everyone’s attention. She was so expressive in the way that she spoke and Juliana admired her confidence in her ability to keep her audience captivated. Juliana’s heart burst with pride as everyone clearly loved Valentina and a few people had even chose to vocalise this whenever Valentina got up to go inside. Juliana’s favourite moments were when Valentina tilted her head back in laughter. Seeing her in those moments of pure joy made Juliana’s heart feel warm and fuzzy. It was strange for Juliana because she was usually so reserved and in control of her emotions but the moment she met Valentina and got to know her, she felt like she was lost in a land full of happiness and rainbows. Valentina was like the sun in Teletubbies, shining her light on her whenever they were together and Juliana couldn’t help but shout “Again! Again!”.

Despite the clear out of people which quite obviously freed up a lot of seats, Valentina was still perched in Juliana’s lap. They had been like that all evening actually, attached at the hip, only really separating to get food and drinks or to go to the toilet. It was another thing Juliana had slowly began to realise about Valentina, she was an openly intimate person. She was physically intimate which Juliana had begun to embrace as Valentina always seemed to find some reason to touch her. But Valentina’s intimacy went beyond that as Juliana found that a lot of the things Valentina said, and the way that she said them, were incredibly endearing and it made Juliana feel appreciated. Juliana’s point was proven as she yawned which Valentina responded to by lightly stroking her hair.

“You two are fucking adorable” Grace drunkenly slurred which captured Juliana’s attention.

“What?” Juliana responded in double-quick time.

“You’re like the cutest couple ev-“ Grace tried to explain but Juliana panicked and cut her off.

“We’re not together…what? Why would you say something strange like that?” Juliana’s words came out way more bitterly than she intended and she felt Valentina physically recoil.

“I’m just going to the toilet” Valentina sounded so disappointed as she stood up.

“Val wait..I’ll come-“ This time it was Juliana who was cut off.

“No it’s fine, I know where it is” Valentina spoke coldly as she walked away and Juliana felt bad.

“Jesus Juliana, way to shit on her parade” Danny spoke and Juliana felt attacked.

“What do you mean?” Juliana responded aggressively.

“Can you honestly say there’s nothing going on between you two? Seriously?” Danny pushed and Juliana decided to take particular interest in the blades of grass on the ground.

“Yeah not gunna lie, it’s been like watching the Notebook with you two” Tom added.

Juliana didn’t know what to say. She was right, wasn’t she? Her and Valentina weren’t together, they were just friends. Ok so technically the feelings involved meant that they were sort of more than that. But they hadn’t really decided anything apart from being friends. Juliana had so many unanswered questions flying around in her head. Was it really that obvious? Did she want to have this conversation now? Was she even ready to have this conservation at all? What must Valentina be thinking? Was she okay? Did she hurt her feelings? Juliana wanted a hole in the ground to open up and swallow her whole.

“Well Juliana if you retreat any further into that closet, you’ll end up in Narnia” Grace seemed to take it upon herself to fill the silence.

“Grace!” Danny chastised her and Juliana’s face went pale.

“Look Juliana” Tom spoke softly, placing his hand on her knee. “I have an older sister who went through exactly what you’re going through now, locking her feelings away because she was scared of what everyone else would think. But now she’s so happy because she stopped fighting herself, she decided that she was going to feel what she feels, love who she loves, and now I have to go to a tailor to buy a suit for her wedding this summer.” Tom paused and Juliana felt tears prickling her eyes. “I know I can’t make you stop being afraid but just be yourself Juliana, unapologetically” Tom finished his little speech and Juliana had never felt so supported.

“Plus, there’s a girl in there who’s quite clearly smitten with you and waiting for you to take that leap” Danny added.

“And she’s hot too so if you don’t shag her, I will” Grace drunken words broke the intense atmosphere and they all laughed together.

Juliana wiped her eyes and got up to look for Valentina. When she got into the house she noticed that Valentina wasn’t in the downstairs toilet. She then looked into the living room just to see the same drunk guy still passed out. Juliana began to worry thinking Valentina had left. She decided to go up to her room and grab her phone so she could ring her and ask her where she was. And apologise as well. Juliana pushed open her bedroom door to find Valentina sat on the bed with fiddling with her phone in her hands, but she looked up when she realised she wasn’t alone anymore. Juliana’s heart burned when she saw Valentina’s usual sparkly blue eyes stained red. She had been crying and Juliana felt guilty knowing she was the cause.

“I’m just ordering myself an Uber” Valentina spoke gingerly.

“Val, don’t leave, I’m sorry” Juliana was full of remorse.

“It’s late anyway and I have lectures tomorrow” This time Valentina sounded emotionless.

“Val look I’m really sorry, I-“ Juliana tried to reason before she was interrupted.

“Do you know what really hurts? Not the fact that you said we’re not together because it’s true, we are just friends, but it was the way you said it, you sounded so disgusted at the idea of being with me” Valentina sounded so depleted.

“Of course I’m not Val, I just panicked, I didn’t know how to react” Juliana felt stupid.

“But you did react, you spoke like the thought of me and you physically repulses you, and now I feel like an idiot, feeling like we are sharing the most beautiful moments together, feeling like we are making progress and then you say things like that to your friends” Valentina’s voice was broken.

“I’m scared Val, I’m not like you” Juliana responded and Valentina’s expression changed.

“Do you think that I’m not scared too? I’m terrified of the way that I feel, that I can feel this much for someone this soon, that I’m waiting for this someone, you, to feel the same back, and after yesterday and today thinking that you do and then outside I realise that you don’t” Valentina was crying again and Juliana tried to reach out to protect her but Valentina held her hands up blocking her intentions.

“Wait Val, you’re wrong, I do ha-“ Juliana was cut off by Valentina’s phone pinging.

“My Uber is here” Valentina spoke as she walked towards the door past Juliana.

“Val, wait please, let’s talk, let me explain” Juliana’s voiced strained as she grabbed Valentina’s arm.

“You already said what you needed to say outside Juls” Valentina replied before shrugging Juliana’s arm off.

Valentina walked along the landing leaving Juliana stood there in her room wondering how to rescue the situation. She didn’t mean what she said, it was sheer panic. Juliana was only just coming to terms with her own feelings and she hadn’t even really told Valentina yet, so the thought of other people finding out prompted her to react in fear. But Tom was right, why was she so scared? Everyone that had seen her and Valentina together had pretty much figured it out straight away, and they had all been so supportive. So why couldn’t she just fight her own fears? What was stopping her? Juliana asked herself these questions and she couldn’t come up with any answers. Because there weren’t any, logical answers didn’t exist because she was thinking irrationally throwing away her own chance of happiness.

_'What the fuck am I doing?’_ Juliana thought as she heard Valentina reach the bottom of the stairs. _‘What the fuck am I waiting for?’_ Juliana questioned herself. _‘Are you really going to let Valentina walk out of your house like this?’_ Juliana’s mind swung into action mode. Juliana didn’t want to leave things like this, she _couldn’t_ leave things like this. She couldn’t just let Valentina give up on them. Juliana’s feet began to move quickly as she ran towards the stairs.

“Val wait!” Juliana called as she ran downstairs praying she wouldn’t trip because this dramatic moment really didn’t need a trip to A&E.

Valentina ignored her as she twisted the lock on the door to open it. Juliana thought that it was now or never as she reached the bottom of the stairs. She ran over to the door, instinctively slamming it shut. Juliana quickly wiped her clammy palm against her leg before she grabbed Valentina’s shoulder to spin her around. Juliana took a deep breath after she spotted the crease in Valentina’s forehead signalling her confusion. She leaned in, closed her eyes and pressed her mouth forcefully against Valentina’s lips and the energy that exploded in her body was stratospheric.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously if you're not watching La Casa de Papel/Money Heist then you should be, it's SO GOOD :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I was actually planning to post this a couple of days ago but I honestly spent my time being distracted by Barbarena at the KCA's instead of proofreading lol  
> Thank you for all the continued support, you're all amazing people!
> 
> Valentina's POV.

_23:53_

Valentina’s ability to think, or feel, or breath, or anything at all really was completely distorted. She had been building up this moment for so long in her mind that whatever Juliana had just said in the garden felt like a long distant memory. From the moment she met Juliana in Salvador and Armanda, her mind already knew what it wanted. Granted, it may have taken Valentina approximately 12 hours to figure out exactly what that was. But ever since then, she knew it was Juliana. It had always been Juliana. However, now this was actually happening, none of the possible reactions she had dreamed in her head were occurring. Neither Valentina’s body or mind seemed willing to cooperate and it felt like seconds were ticking into minutes, which were stretching into hours. How was now the ideal time for her body to completely malfunction? She had never needed it to spring into action as much as she did right now. But luckily when Valentina felt a subtle change in movement against her lips, in a millisecond she was back. It was as if someone had relit the ignition in her mind, finally getting the engine to turn over and the electrical activity in her brain restarted. She quickly registered what was happening as she could feel Juliana starting to retreat away from her. Valentina hastily grabbed the back of Juliana’s neck and pulled her back towards her, reconnecting their lips. The contact was slightly abrupt but Valentina wanted to leave no doubt in Juliana’s mind that this was what she wanted.

Every emotion that Valentina had experienced in her life thus far felt insignificant in comparison to this one. Despite the abundance of languages spoken on this planet, Valentina knew that there wasn’t a single word in any of those languages that could convey how she was feeling right now with Juliana’s lips against hers. Juliana’s lips were soft and silky smooth and had a strangely familiar but pleasant taste. Valentina remembered that Juliana had declared her love for barbeque sauce earlier whilst smothering her burger in it, creating the smoky flavour she could now taste. Valentina had never been particularly averse to barbeque sauce but she made a mental note to buy the whole shelf of this particular condiment when she next went shopping.

Their lips moved together in a slow and languid pace, and Valentina became breathless as she got lost in the kiss. She had kissed a fair few people in her life, many of which she later regretted. Admittedly some guys were good kissers but nothing had felt like this, the intensity and purity of this particular kiss was a completely new experience. To Valentina it felt like Juliana was trying to convey every unspoken conversation about her own feelings into this one single kiss and Valentina was attempting to push back telling her that she understood. Valentina brushed her thumb against Juliana’s neck and she felt tiny little hairs stand up as Juliana’s skin broke into goose bumps under her touch. It was only a subtle touch but Valentina revelled in the effect that she had on Juliana’s body as she broke her first line of defence.

Valentina was fighting to remain in control when she heard Juliana hum against her lips. She could feel the vibration from the sound travel through the core of her body, encompassing her soul before travelling deep into her abdomen. She wanted more, she _needed_ more. But she held back because she was aware that this was most likely Juliana’s first kiss and she refused to ruin this precious moment by scaring her. Instead she just decided to bask in the glory, get lost in time and continue to kiss Juliana like her life depended on it. Valentina’s senses were overpowered by Juliana’s scent and the burning sensation in her nostrils was akin to being trapped in a forest fire. Suddenly, Valentina felt Juliana’s hands change position. She hadn’t even noticed before that one of Juliana’s hands was still placed on Valentina’s shoulder and the other awkwardly dangling by her side. But now Juliana had placed her hands firmly on Valentina’s waist and her feathery touch left a trail of fire on Valentina’s bare skin. Juliana’s touch was almost unbearable and Valentina swallowed a shallow moan as the pulsating sensation between her thighs grew stronger. Valentina wasn’t even aware that this level of passion existed in real life, only really witnessing it in romantic movies, and it left her craving more.

Valentina was concentrating as hard as she could, trying to remind herself to stay in control. And she thought she had succeeded when Juliana pulled back slightly, what Valentina understood as Juliana wanting to signal the end of the kiss. However, she was mistaken as she heard Juliana draw in a breath before leaning in again, reattaching her lips to Valentina’s. Not that she was complaining as there would never be another moment again when she didn’t want to be kissing Juliana Valdés. Valentina experienced a shrill of excitement spring in between her legs as she briefly imagined all of the other places she could potentially kiss Juliana.

It wasn’t just the assault on her lips that Valentina had to contend with as Juliana’s hands had begun their own journey of exploration as well. Juliana’s ghosted her fingers slowly upwards and Valentina was fighting to stop her body from jerking uncontrollably due to the tickling sensation Juliana’s hands were creating. When Juliana brushed over a particularly sensitive area on Valentina’s ribs, Valentina lost control. Her tongue involuntarily slipped out as she ran it against Juliana’s bottom lip begging for permission to enter. Valentina felt Juliana freeze due to the unexpected action. Juliana’s body then tensed up which prompted Valentina to open her eyes. She was ready to curse her body for countless things, for being so eager, for making Juliana feel uncomfortable, for ruining the moment she had been waiting for since she moved to London, actually not just London, her entire existence if she was being really honest. But almost immediately after, Juliana relaxed and her lips fell slightly ajar. Valentina didn’t need a second invitation as she closed her eyes again and slowly manoeuvred her tongue inside Juliana’s mouth. As soon as their tongues connected, Valentina was unable to stop the moan from escaping her throat. Sensational was an understatement to describe the feeling of Juliana’s warm tongue merging with hers. Valentina could feel Juliana’s tongue moving tentatively and slowly at first, getting used to the action and their new boundary. Valentina could’ve stood there forever, just exploring Juliana’s mouth, discovering every single minor detail to store in her memory for when they kissed over and over again in the future. Because this was it for her, this moment provided confirmation for Valentina that there wasn’t anyone else she ever wanted to kiss again. Juliana was it for her, if life was truly a game then she had already won, and she just prayed that Juliana felt the same.

The intensity of the kiss heightened as Juliana’s confidence grew and the slow exploration of each other’s mouths swiftly transitioned into a battle for dominance. It was a war that Valentina was happy to both win or lose because each outcome achieved the same prize. Juliana. Valentina felt Juliana’s hands grip her more tightly, closing the gap between their bodies so they were flush against each other. Valentina was sure that she was approaching her maximum heart rate and she couldn’t really think clearly about anything by this point, other than the growing ache in between her legs. She was so unbelievably turned on that she thought she might self-combust. Despite being no stranger to sex, it was so unfamiliar to Valentina, to feel like her entire body was on fire and knowing that there only one person that could make her feel like this. Plus, she was also completely aware that Juliana was the only person that could put the fire out.

Valentina forcefully pushed Juliana backwards, effectively trapping her against the wall. She didn’t know what had come over her, but she just had this burning desire to take Juliana right there and now against the wall. Valentina bit down gently on Juliana’s lip which elicited a satisfied sigh from her, causing Valentina to become painstakingly aware of how wet she was between her legs. Valentina thought that maybe she should stop, maybe things had gone far enough and it would be good for Juliana to process everything before freaking out again. But that thought was only brief as Juliana’s hands moved again, travelling south this time, firmly cupping Valentina’s ass. Valentina didn’t really think there was any space left between them but Juliana disproved this theory by pulling Valentina by her ass, pushing them even closer together. The atmosphere was thick and electric. The air between them was hot and sticky which Valentina would usually hate but this time it only stirred up her quest for more. Valentina’s skin was completely flushed and she finally stopped processing rational thoughts, only being ruled by her own libido and desire, which she was sure was the case for Juliana as well. Valentina moved slightly to slip her leg in between Juliana’s. Valentina gasped quietly when she could feel Juliana’s heat on top of her thigh through her own trouser leg but that diminutive sound was overshadowed by the guttural moan that emerged from Juliana’s throat. Valentina hesitated briefly in shock, because she didn’t even know that Juliana was capable of such a sound. She was always so reserved about absolutely everything. Valentina knew that Juliana liked her because she could feel it when they were together, but always held a little bit of self-doubt as to whether Juliana was attracted to her in the same way that she was to her. But that doubt had quickly evaporated as soon as Juliana made that beautiful sound. Valentina was half-contemplating whether to reach down and touch the same spot on her leg to check that she wasn’t dreaming, that Juliana being as equally turned on as her was actually happening. However, she was distracted from that thought as Juliana pushed her tongue to the roof of Valentina’s mouth.

The situation between them suddenly became frenzied as the battle for dominance was reaching its peak. Hands were flying everywhere as neither girl could get enough of each other. Valentina was slightly amazed that Juliana was able to match her energy and intensity. She had never seen this side to Juliana and it was exhilarating. Valentina actually believed that Juliana had never seen this side of herself either so she felt a sense of pride that she was the person to wake this hidden part of her. Valentina was determined to hear Juliana moan again so she pulled her mouth away from Juliana’s lips, placing quick kisses along her jaw line, finally attaching them to Juliana’s pulse point. Valentina smiled briefly against Juliana’s neck as she felt the strong vibration of Juliana’s blood rushing through her throbbing artery. She began to nip at her neck slightly, gently gathering Juliana’s skin in her teeth, before sucking on the same portion of skin, then proceeding to run her wet tongue over it to smooth over where she was leaving her mark.

“Val” Juliana moaned her name this time and it only really spurred Valentina to continue.

The sheer force and desire between them, both physically and metaphorically, caused Valentina to place one hand on the wall to gain some extra support as Juliana squirmed beneath her making them almost lose their balance.

“Well as much as I’m ecstatic that you two are quite literally kissing and making up, I would like to remind both of you that you are in fact in the corridor, the very communal corridor which we all use, and as much as I don’t like to sound cliché, I suggest you both get a room” Grace interrupted them and they both immediately sprang apart.

Valentina wasn’t sure if it was even possible to get any redder than her already flushed skin, but her body tried and succeeded anyway. Valentina glanced at Juliana quickly to find her staring at the floor as she always does in any situation she finds awkward. To be honest, Valentina couldn’t really blame her. It wasn’t exactly the ideal ending to your first kiss. Valentina presumed that Juliana had no intention of speaking in this situation so she took it upon herself to respond.

“Sorry” Valentina mumbled quietly trying to get her breath back.

“Oh don’t mind me, you guys were dry humping so intensely that I don’t even think you’d have noticed if I walked past but the boys will be in soon, they’re just tidying up, so I thought I’d warn you” Grace responded as she approached the stairs. “Unless trending on PornHub is your thing, then carry on until they come in, you two are hot anyway” She added drunkenly laughing to herself as she walked up the stairs.

Valentina cringed at the comment as it was a distinct reminder of how far things had escalated in such a short space of time. One minute she was ready to walk out of the door leaving things on bad terms because she didn’t have the energy to remind herself that Juliana’s feelings were real. And the next minute she had her tongue shoved down Juliana’s throat as the bubbling tension between them finally erupted. Valentina glanced at Juliana wondering how she must be feeling, because if she felt a little dazed, then Juliana must be on the verge of a full-blown panic attack. Valentina noticed that Juliana’s eyes were glazed over, she was physically looking ahead at the stairs, but she wasn’t really there. Valentina felt helpless, not really knowing what to do in this situation. She wanted to help her, but she was equally scared of triggering Juliana’s innate ability to pull away from anything that caused her to feel something.

“We should talk about what just happened” Valentina spoke quietly and softly, hoping that she would coax Juliana out of the state she was currently in.

Valentina stood there staring at her, waiting for any indication that Juliana was going to respond. Valentina grew increasingly nervous and she wondered if Juliana had even heard her or not. She noticed Juliana blink purposefully and Valentina released a breath that she hadn’t even realised that she was holding. Juliana began to walk up the stairs, moving in an almost robotic-like state. Valentina was unsure if she should even follow her but Juliana paused on the fourth step. She didn’t turn around but her hesitation seemed to indicate that she wanted Valentina to follow her. Valentina did just that and Juliana started moving again.

They reached Juliana’s room in silence and they remained in silence as Juliana sat on her bed. Valentina wanted to join her but she decided against the idea when she noticed Juliana’s hands either side of her body holding her quilt. Her grip was so tight that her knuckles were white as she scrunched up the small area of bedding into a ball in her palms. Juliana didn’t have another chair since they were all still outside so Valentina stood awkwardly not really knowing what to do next. For someone who loved to speak, silences in general were something that Valentina never really appreciated. But this silence in particular was laced with tension. This silence created an atmosphere where it felt like the walls were slowly closing in on them. Valentina’s breathing almost became laboured as it felt like there was a distinct shortage of oxygen in the room. Valentina wasn’t naturally insecure and she had always been told that she had this natural confidence. It was the reason why she was featured in so many magazines back home. But in this moment she wasn’t Valentina Carvajal, she was just Val, the girl who’s heart belonged to Juliana, praying that Juliana wasn’t going to break it again.

“We weren’t going to stop were we?” Juliana finally broke the silence.

Valentina was a little shocked. She wasn’t really expecting that response from Juliana. She was preparing for the freak-out. To be told that they shouldn’t have kissed. That things had escalated too quickly. That she needed time and space to think. But this was a different response that Valentina was unsure of how to answer. On one hand, Valentina did believe had they not been rudely interrupted in the corridor, then eventually they would’ve had to stop. Logistically alone, they couldn’t have had sex in a corridor. Or could they? But seriously speaking, Valentina knew that ultimately they would have because they hadn’t even communicated their feelings clearly yet. Well Juliana hadn’t. But on the other hand, having Juliana pressed up against a wall like that triggered some sort of internal primal desire that Valentina didn’t even realise was possible. So if the opportunity presented itself again, without any interruptions, then could she really guarantee that things wouldn’t have escalated even further?

“I didn’t want to” Valentina admitted because there was nothing else she had to offer at this point apart from honesty.

Valentina saw Juliana release her grip on her bed sheets and she sat up a bit more from her previous position where her shoulders were previously hunched over as if she was carrying the weight of the world on them. Juliana lifted her head, turning it to look at Valentina and she felt her heart crack. Behind Juliana’s brown orbs was a look that just screamed vulnerability. Valentina could tell she was terrified and silently pleading with her to help her deal with what just happened. Valentina took a couple of steps towards Juliana and sat next to her on the bed. Valentina could feel Juliana shaking next to her and she wished that she could take away the anguish and turmoil in her mind. She took hold of Juliana’s hand, placing it in her lap. Valentina stroked Juliana’s hand with her thumb, paying particular attention to creating broad strokes, repeating them in an attempt to calm her down.

They stayed like that for a short while and Valentina could feel Juliana’s shakes become weaker and weaker, to a point where she eventually stopped. A brisk nightly air had creeped through the window which only served to make Valentina aware of how anxious she still was, as the coolness provided a much-needed relief to the sweat that had been building up on her skin. Valentina wasn’t sure if she should initiate the conversation or not. She wanted to but she was also mindful of Juliana’s need for calm so she remained silent, giving Juliana as much time as she needed to process the night’s events.

“I don’t even know what to say” Juliana was as quiet as a mouse.

“Tell me how you feel” Valentina responded because she needed to hear it.

Valentina didn’t want to push Juliana into doing something she didn’t want to do. But she needed Juliana to voice her thoughts out loud. She couldn’t carry on like this, feeling like she had whiplash. She couldn’t continue to switch from Juliana speaking with such venom in her voice in one minute, to kissing each other like rabid animals in the subsequent minute, to then switching back to Juliana running scared again. It was too much and she needed clarity. She needed to know that Juliana wasn’t going to retreat back to the safe comfort of the friend zone after dragging them both out of it.

“All of my life I have always been running away from something.” Juliana’s voice shook as she began to speak and Valentina sensed the vulnerability in her words. She squeezed her hand to encourage her to continue. “When you walked away before trying to leave out of the door, it was the first time I’ve ran towards something…to someone actually…to you” Juliana mumbled the last part but Valentina heard her loud and clear.

“Juls, I kn-”

“Let me finish because I don’t know if I can say this again” Juliana interrupted Valentina causing her to look like a fish gulping water into its mouth. “I don’t know how to tell you everything that I feel because I don’t even know how to express it but I need you to understand that I feel it and every single day I’m going to try and tell you” Juliana paused and Valentina understood the gravity of her words. “All I know is that I want to be around you all the time and when I’m not I’m thinking about you anyway. I think about you in ways that I’ve never thought about anyone and it’s scary. And I don’t think it isn’t natural because we’re two girls but because it’s not normal to think about anyone as much as I think about you” Juliana started to ramble and Valentina couldn’t help but laugh.

“Juls you know that I can’t stop either, it’s like a broken record in my mind, this special radio channel where the frequency is you” Valentina sounded exasperated and it was true.

“I know that maybe you want more, maybe you need something or someone different to me, you know, to be happier” This was quite simply the stupidest thing Valentina had ever heard and her scrunched up face was testament to that.

“Juliana, I’m going to fall in love with you and knowing that makes my heart burn with happiness and we both know that the heart doesn’t lie” Valentina spoke passionately and Juliana gave her one of those _“really?”_ looks as if she didn’t quite believe her.

Valentina was a firm believer that actions speak louder than words. Therefore, she twisted her body to face Juliana fully and wrapped her arms around Juliana’s neck pulling her into her. Valentina felt Juliana’s arms snake around the bottom of her rib cage as she found a comfortable position in the hug. Juliana rested her head on Valentina’s shoulder as she gripped Valentina tightly. There wasn’t a need for Valentina to kiss Juliana at this point because what she really wanted was to give Juliana comfort. She wanted to show Juliana that she didn’t have to be afraid, that she understood how Juliana felt. That she was willing to work with her every day so she could communicate her feelings. Valentina wanted to show her that she wasn’t going anywhere, that she would support her through every single step. Valentina broke the hug when she could feel her shoulder dampening. She pulled back seeing that Juliana was crying. Valentina moved her hands towards Juliana’s face, wiping away the tears that were trickling down her face.

“Why are you crying mi amor?” Valentina spoke so softly.

“I can’t help it, I feel so exhausted and overwhelmed but more than anything I feel relieved because we’ve reached the next step together” Juliana’s voice broke and sounded hoarse.

“I know it’s a huge step” Valentina responded and it was true, even though she was handling the situation better than Juliana, it was still a big step for both of them.

“I feel like my comfort zone is laughing and waving at me shouting see you later sucker”. Juliana deadpanned.

“Well tell your comfort zone to go fuck itself” Valentina spoke incredulously which prompted a laugh from Juliana, which was then succeeded by a yawn.

“You’re tired” Valentina stated softly.

“Aren’t you?” Juliana asked yawning again.

“Yeah a little bit” Valentina said catching Juliana’s yawn.

“Do you want to stay here?” Juliana asked as the time of night began to dawn on both of them.

Valentina’s heart and entire soul was screaming at her to say yes. If she stayed the night with Juliana in her bed, it was an entire night of spooning. An entire night of exploring Juliana’s mouth and discovering many other ridiculously amazing things about her body. But her mind told her no. Her mind told her that the concept of ‘too much too soon’ firmly applied in this situation. Valentina believed Juliana was only asking her to stay out of politeness more than anything. She thought that some space and time apart would allow Juliana to process everything that little bit more. But her mind continued to flood with images of Juliana sleeping in her arms. Valentina was conflicted by the difference between what she wanted to do and what she should do. Mind over matter won in this case.

“I’ll go home, I have to get up early anyway for my lecture” Valentina explained.

“Ok” Juliana spoke so quickly that Valentina was unable to detect whether there was a hint of disappointment in her voice.

“At least this time I can actually catch my Uber” Valentina poor attempt at a joke was matched by Juliana’s poor attempt at a smile.

The wait for Valentina’s taxi was surprisingly short considering how late it was on a Sunday night. Part of her was annoyed that there was a driver nearby as it forced her into saying goodbye to Juliana before she was ready to. Both Juliana and Valentina walked down the stairs and arrived at the front door. It was slightly strange to be back in the same place knowing what had happened beforehand. But as far as Valentina was concerned, this was her new favourite spot in Juliana’s house. Valentina managed to open the door this time and she turned back to face Juliana. She was slightly unsure as to how she should say goodbye because she wasn’t too sure what Juliana would be comfortable with. But she was pleasantly surprised when Juliana cupped her face and pulled her in for a kiss. The kiss was short and chaste, holding nowhere near the passion and frustration that had possessed them earlier. Nonetheless, Valentina was content because this kiss was exactly what they needed for this moment. It signalled that Juliana was comfortable to kiss her and her entire body flooded with relief that Juliana hadn’t retreated back into her shell. Valentina couldn’t help but smile before she leaned in for another peck.

“Ok I really have to go before I get another cancellation fee” Valentina spoke wishing she had picked the option to stay.

“Text me when you get home” Juliana responded whilst reaching out to squeeze Valentina’s hand.

“I will, te quiero."

“A ti cariño” Juliana replied before giving Valentina another quick peck.

Valentina turned to walk towards the taxi and she was pretty sure that the pavement had been replaced by rainbows.

* * *

_01:52_

Valentina had just arrived at her flat. She thanked the driver quickly but to be honest she wasn’t even sure what she was thanking him for. She spent the entire trip lost in a trance. A Juliana-induced trance. A trance where she replayed their kiss over and over again. A trance where every single emotion that she felt during the kiss hit her in continuous waves. At one point, Valentina was sure she gripped onto the door handle as a support mechanism as one particular wave of energy surged through her as she replayed the specific part where she pushed Juliana against the wall. Valentina was overwhelmed but in the best possible way.

As she stood on the pavement, she realised that everything felt different. The stars in the night sky were brighter. The street lamps shone more intensely. The air felt fresher. The leaves on the tree next to her building looked greener. Maybe she was dreaming. If she was, then this was the best dream she had ever had and she never wanted to wake up. Valentina was just stood there almost motionless, wanting to bask in the detail of moment she was experiencing. She took her phone out and took a photo of the street. She opened her Instagram and posted the picture and captioned it ‘you can’t change everything in one night, but one night can change everything’. Valentina smiled at her own selection of words.

“Is everything ok Miss Carvajal?” The night shift concierge’s voice startled Valentina.

“Yes of course and I keep telling you to call me Valentina” She replied realising that she was stood in the street smiling like an idiot.

“Yes sorry miss Carva- Valentina, sorry, force of habit, are you coming inside?” The concierge responded holding the door open for Valentina.

“Yeah I am” Valentina responded walking through the door. “Thank you” She added as she walked to call the lift.

“You look happy, it suits you” the concierge commented sweetly which stung Valentina’s heart. It dawned on her how many times she had stumbled into the building late at night, drunk with bloodshot eyes.

“I’m the happiest I’ve been in my life” Valentina replied truthfully before she stepped into the lift. “Good night” She added before the doors closed.

Valentina stepped out of the lift in her flat and went straight up to her bedroom. She was so tired by this point and she knew she would have to be up again in about five hours to go to her lectures. But the impending exhaustion tomorrow morning was all worth it after the evening she had had at Juliana’s house. She quickly changed into an oversized t-shirt, washed her face and brushed her teeth, opting to just shower in the morning when she woke up. After she climbed into bed, Valentina picked up her phone to call Juliana. She could’ve just texted her that she was home but she wanted to hear the sound of Juliana’s voice again before she went to sleep. Sadly, Valentina was left disappointed as the phone rang out, eventually going to answerphone, so she deferred to option number two.

**Valentina: I tried to ring to tell you that I’m home but I’m guessing you’re already asleep. What a happy day I can’t stop smiling, good night xxx**

Valentina was about to put her phone on her bedside table so she could go to sleep, but she decided to add another text.

**Valentina: I can’t wait to kiss you again**


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for all the support, the love is overwhelming! And an even more special thank you to some of you who leave the most incredible comments, they honestly encourage me to keep writing.
> 
> I'm on Twitter as well now @juliantina_vida (I'll probably make the chapter previews a regular thing)
> 
> Juliana's POV.

_10:22_

A piercing pain shot through Juliana’s head when she was woken up abruptly. As Juliana rapidly came to her senses, she realised that she could hear this repetitive beeping noise which was unnecessarily loud for any time of the day, let alone the morning. She was really confused as to what was going on until her nose took in the smell of smoke and she suddenly registered that it was the fire alarm going off. However, Juliana’s brain was still muddled because she thought she was the only one in the house. She threw her bed sheets off and quickly hurried down the stairs to locate the source of her confusion. Juliana entered the kitchen to find Grace jumping up and down like a lunatic, waving the tea towel at a frying pan that literally had the most minute fire in it. Juliana rolled her eyes at her idiocy because she was actually just fuelling the flames by waving oxygen directly at it.

“Oh Juliana thank God you’re awake, can you call 999?” Grace shouted over the alarm and Juliana chose to ignore her because this wasn’t an episode of Chicago Fire.

Juliana snatched the tea towel out of Grace’s hand and used it to grab the handle of the frying pan, carrying it over to the sink, before turning on the cold tap.

“Open the back door and I’ll do the rest” Juliana instructed before she left the room to open the windows in the living room.

Luckily, the smoke wasn’t too bad so Juliana knew that the lingering smell wouldn’t last too long with the windows open. The alarm finally stopped which eased the throbbing in Juliana’s head a little bit. She turned around to see that Grace had sauntered into the living room, throwing herself down on one of the sofas.

“Aren’t you supposed to be at work?” Juliana asked still bemused as to how this situation even occurred.

“I’m way too hungover so I phoned in sick” Grace responded in true British fashion.

“Oh right, and how exactly did you manage to set the fire alarm off please?” Juliana asked incredulously as she sat down.

“I was trying to make a bacon sandwich, ultimate British hangover cure by the way” Grace responded nonchalantly.

“And how did you go from lightly frying bacon to setting the pan on fire?” Juliana was not impressed.

“Oh I was on Twitter, did you know that Miley and Liam broke up which is just crazy, but THEN Miley was spotted in Lake Como kis-” Grace really thought she was the UK’s answer to TMZ most of the time.

“I literally have no idea who you’re talking about” Juliana interrupted her not wanting Grace to continue her story which was only going to go straight over her head anyway.

“Oh yeah sorry, I sometimes forget that you basically lived under a rock in Mexico” Grace responded which caused Juliana to roll her eyes again.

“Just be careful next time” Juliana pleaded.

Juliana decided that this conversation had run its course so shifted her body weight to get up from the sofa. Just as she was half stood up, Grace leaned across and yanked her back down.

“Where do you think you’re going? We still have last night to discuss” Grace demanded which caused Juliana to blush.

“What do you mean? There’s nothing to talk about” Juliana responded hoping to dismiss her.

Juliana was lying because as soon as Grace mentioned it, Juliana’s mind flooded with images of the previous night. She almost felt stung by her own memory as she recalled so many details at once. The tension in Juliana’s body heightened again as the reality of her new-found situation sunk in. She had no idea where the confidence came from to kiss Valentina to stop her leaving. But it was there, it existed, and Juliana took comfort in that. And the kiss, _por dios_ , the kiss. How could she even begin to describe it? It was beyond anything that she was expecting. Granted she had nothing to compare it to, but Juliana was almost certain that the kiss she experienced last night was the Valentina effect. The feeling of Valentina’s lips was incredible, and when she bit her lip, she was surprised that she felt turned on by an action that would usually be painful. She didn’t even know what she was doing half of the time with her mind operating on autopilot as she ran her hands all over Valentina’s body in a search for more friction. She felt the emotion and raw passion in every sinew in her body and she really couldn’t have imagined them stopping if they weren’t interrupted.

But it was the moments after their interruption that really gave Juliana hope. This memory served as a constant reminder that she needed to stop overthinking herself into a frenzy. It was recalling the conversation with Valentina where she finally voiced her feelings out loud that made her feel drunk with happiness. She could feel from the way Valentina held her that she wasn’t alone, that she didn’t need to be scared of how she felt, that they could take things slowly. But the one word that stuck in her mind was a word that had actually come from her mouth. _Together._ Juliana knew that this word was the most important thing as they pushed the boundary further.

“Mate, for someone who says there’s nothing to talk about, your face doesn’t seem to agree” Grace interrupted Juliana’s daydream and she realised she had the most humongous smile plastered on her face.

“Stop” Juliana moaned as another blush flooded her face.

“Me stop? I wasn’t the one trying to have sex in a corridor” Grace laughed throwing her head back against the sofa.

“Oh my god, don’t, I can’t believe you saw, I’m so sorry” Juliana apologised profusely.

“It’s fine, you know I’m only joking, it’s your house too” Grace sounded more serious this time. “Plus like I said yesterday, it’s good that you seem to have sorted things” She added.

“Yeah we did” Juliana sounded as relieved as she did last night. “I was actually honest about how I feel finally”.

“Care to elaborate?” Grace asked and it felt like a loaded question.

How did Juliana feel now everything was out in the open? She was unsure what the right word was. Obviously, she was happy with the progress, ecstatic even. She may have only declared her feelings last night but she knew what she had been feeling for a while prior to that. But last night she realised something else. She needed to acknowledge the one thing that truly scared her. The one thing that started this whole sequence of events. It was the thought of Valentina walking out of that door and them not speaking again. And it was this fear that accompanied this particular thought that far outweighed any happiness she currently felt. Because in the short time between Valentina walking out of her bedroom and Juliana running downstairs to kiss her, she briefly imagined what her world would feel like without Valentina. And the only way she could describe it was emptiness. It had only been a short amount of time since they met but Juliana couldn’t imagine her life without Valentina in it anymore. In fact, she didn’t _want_ to imagine it. Juliana had never felt like this before and it was a difficult thing for her to properly process. She had always been fine with her own life, struggling through it but managing. She had learned how to cope because that’s what everyone does in shitty situations. Juliana had always believed that a new environment was the one thing that would turn her life around. She had moved to London expecting things to suddenly improve. But they didn’t. Yes things were still better than San Antonio and Mexico City but they still weren’t amazing here. But since meeting Valentina, her outlook has changed. Valentina offers Juliana a completeness that she didn’t even realise was possible. It was as if Juliana’s life was a puzzle and she’d spent so long trying to complete it but had never been able to. But suddenly Valentina came along acting as the missing piece, solving the whole puzzle. And it truly surprised her to think that someone could entire her life so quickly and leave a giant imprint on her heart.

“How do you know when you’re in love?” Juliana asked finally responding to Grace's question.

“Fucking hell, you didn’t drop the L bomb did you?” Grace practically shouted in concern.

“No” Juliana replied quickly. “Valentina told me yesterday that she’s going to fall in love with me” Juliana confessed.

“Well Juliana being in love is different for everyone, but I think it’s when you just want to be around the person you’re in love with all the time, not because you want to shag them every day as I think being in love is more than just lust, but because they’re also your best friend, the person you want to share everything with, the person that supports you and believes in you more than anyone else in world, the person you’ll make sacrifices for without even questioning it, the person that inspires you to be a better person, I don’t know it’s a crazy feeling to explain” Grace explained and the words resonated with Juliana.

“But how can you know that after such a short amount of time?” Juliana questioned.

“Time means nothing because when you know, you know” Grace explained.

“I don’t even know what ‘you know’ is” Juliana sounded exasperated at her own lack of experience in matters of the heart.

“What ‘you know’ is how you feel Juliana, no one else decides that except you…well…you don’t even decide either, it’s just a natural feeling” Grace responded with air quotes.

“I feel like I want to be around her all the time, and when I’m not, my mind is saturated with her” Juliana confessed.

“Yeah you’ve got it bad babe, I was like that with my ex, it’s like an onslaught of emotions whether you’re with them or not” Grace contemplated.

“What happened with your ex?” Juliana was curious.

“He cheated on me” Grace responded bitterly.

“Men are trash” Juliana replied suddenly remembering the framed quote that Grace had hung up in her room with the same three words.

“Sing it from the fucking rooftops Juliana” Grace began to raise her voice just as her phone began to ring. “Speaking of trashy men, my boss is ringing me, sorry I have to take this” She added before making her exit from the living room.

Juliana got up and made herself a coffee before she wandered back to her room still feeling unsure about things. Love was a huge word and she hadn’t even really thought about loving anyone before or being loved by anyone either. Of course, she loved her mum and Panchito, and her friends. That love was the unconditional platonic love that was mutual between her family and friends. But Juliana knew that this was different because this was being _in_ love. But how could she possibly know? How could Valentina know? Why was she even thinking about this now? She wanted to take baby steps with Valentina but her mind was basically planning their wedding already. Juliana was dragged from her own frustration when she noticed her phone vibrating on her bed. Her heart leaped with excitement and she scrambled quickly to grab her phone so she didn’t miss the call. However, she couldn’t help but feel a little bit disappointed when the caller ID didn’t show the person she desperately wanted to talk to.

“Hi ma” Juliana sounded blunter that she had intended to.

“Mija, you could at least pretend that you miss me” Lupe told her off.

“Sorry ma, how are you?” She responded more pleasantly this time.

“I’m fine, I just finished my night shift and I wanted to call you because we’ve barely spoken recently. How are you? Is everything okay? Are you eating? Because I told you that the food English people eat isn-” Lupe began to ramble.

“Ma I’m good honestly, I was just expecting a call from someone else that’s all” Juliana cut her off.

“Who? Have you met someone? Are you dating?” Lupe sounded more excited than Juliana was about the whole situation.

“Yes…kind of…I don’t know ma…it’s early days” Juliana responded not really wanting to lie.

“Oh my god! This is amazing! Who is he? Tell me everything about him!” She screeched and Juliana winced at her mum’s automatic assumption and use of pronoun. She was also grateful when she heard Panchito in the background telling her to calm down.

“Relax ma, things are going well, that’s all you need to know for now” Juliana explained dodging the awkward questions. “How is work? Do you like the new job?” Juliana asked in an attempt to change the subject.

Their conversation lasted for another 20 minutes or so, which mainly consisted of Lupe rambling on about unimportant events at her workplace. Juliana wasn’t particularly interested but she listened anyway because she knew her mum really missed her and appreciated their phone calls, so she actively participated and even asked questions to show that she was listening. After she finally hung up, Juliana was relieved that she could now switch her focus to what her body had been yearning for since she woke up. Valentina of course. She looked at her phone and realised she had two messages from her last night. Juliana smiled as she read the first text and she was sure that the muscles in her cheeks were going to start aching. She blushed when she read the subsequent message and her mind drifted back to Valentina’s leg pressing against her centre.

**Juliana: I was asleep sorry but I’m glad you got home okay and I’m so happy about yesterday too**

Juliana was contemplating how to reply to the second text or whether she should even bother to or not. Once again she felt like her comfort zone was laughing at her because she didn’t know how to flirt. However, she was rescued from the situation as Valentina responded almost immediately.

_Valentina: How are you this morning?_

**Juliana: Well apart from being woken up by the fire alarm I’m good, you?**

_Valentina: What?! What happened? Are you okay? I’m fine, I’m in a lecture at the moment_

**Juliana: Grace tried to burn the kitchen down but everything is fine don’t worry I’m perfectly fine. How is your lecture?**

_Valentina: Hahahaha she is crazy. And I couldn’t tell you how my lecture is tbh_

**Juliana: Why not?**

_Valentina: Because there’s no room in my brain right now to concentrate since you are occupying it all_

Juliana bit her lip and then her nails as she read Valentina’s response. It always shocked her and threw her slightly off-kilter when Valentina was so open about the way she felt. It no longer scared her but Juliana couldn’t help but still feel a hint of nervousness. But Juliana told herself to focus on the point of the message rather than how Valentina delivered it. And when she did that, Juliana relaxed because Valentina was only pointing out what was blatantly obvious for both of them. Juliana felt exactly the same as Valentina did, and it didn't have to matter so much that Valentina was more vocal about it. Neither one of them could keep their minds off each other. But Juliana reminded herself that she promised she would try to express herself and there was no time like the present.

**Juliana: Well I would tell you to focus but I’m not going to because I can’t stop thinking about you either**

Juliana could feel her hands become clammy as she typed out the message. But she possessed enough courage to press send anyway. However, Valentina’s response didn’t come straight away as they had been throughout their entire conversation. Juliana couldn’t help but overthink the situation. Maybe she had been too forward? Maybe Valentina didn’t like her trying to flirt back? Was that even flirting? Why didn’t she just type a normal response? So many thoughts were flying around Juliana’s head as she muttered a number of expletives chastising herself that she almost didn’t realise her phone was ringing. Juliana laughed to herself at her mini panic attack when she saw Valentina’s name on the screen.

“My lecture just finished and I miss you so I thought I would just ring you” Valentina’s angelic voice travelled through Juliana’s ears as she lifted the handset to her ear.

“We saw each other last night Val” Juliana joked.

“It was only last night? It feels like it’s been 84 years” Valentina responded and Juliana laid back on her bed laughing.

“Let’s hope our love story ends better than Jack and Rose’s” Juliana’s eyes bulged when she realised she used the word love without even thinking about it.

“Well” Juliana heard Valentina hesitate. “It definitely will because there was room for two people on the raft so I wouldn’t leave you to freeze in the water don’t worry” Valentina continued.

“That’s good to know” Juliana said whilst still laughing. “When is your next lecture?”.

“I’m done for the day actually so I was just going to go to the library and do some work” Valentina explained but Juliana thought that the second half of the sentence didn’t sound too convincing.

“Oh well since you’re done I was going to ask if you wanted to get something to eat before I start work but if you’ve g-” Juliana she knew what she was doing and it worked as Valentina interrupted her.

“No let’s do it” Valentina spoke eagerly.

“I thought you had work to do?” Juliana asked smiling to herself.

“Erm…I do..yeah…I erm..I can erm…do it later” Valentina was stuttering and Juliana revelled in it.

“Yeah you can when I’m at work” Juliana responded deciding to put Valentina out of her misery.

“Have you been to Camden?” Valentina asked sounding like she had regained her composure.

“No not yet”.

“Ok brilliant, you’re going to love it, it has great street food, can you meet me in an hour?” Valentina squealed in excitement.

“I’m not dressed yet Val” Juliana responded and Valentina chuckled.

“Okay what about at 1?”

“Yeah that’s better”

“Perfect, it’s on the Northern line so apologies in advance because you have change at Bank” Valentina explained remorsefully.

“It’s fine, I get to see you don’t I” Juliana really didn’t care because she was willing to walk the entire distance across London if that was the only way of getting to see her.

“True, I am a quite an attraction I must admit” Juliana chuckled as she heard the fake arrogance in Valentina’s voice.

“Idiot” Juliana joked. “Now I have to go so I can get dressed and not be late”.

“Okay fine, I’ll just have to make do with thinking about you instead of talking to you” Valentina was so cute that Juliana rolled onto her side as she felt her heart melt.

“Val it’s only like two hours and then we will speak again” Juliana responded hoarsely trying to keep her shit together.

“I know I know…just…is it bad if I want to be speaking to you for 24 hours a day? Which I know isn’t possible, but it doesn’t stop me wanting it” Valentina sounded like a small child who just found out Santa Claus wasn’t real and Juliana pressed her face into her pillow as her heart was threatening to expand beyond the capacity of her chest.

“If there were more hours in the day I would use them on you” Juliana replied honestly.

“I’m pretty sure people in my uni café are staring at me smiling like a fool” Juliana could hear the smile in Valentina’s voice.

“Right well I’m having a shower now so I’ll see you soon”.

“Bye Juls” Valentina said before the call disconnected.

Juliana didn’t get up straight away. She laid there taking in all the emotions she felt during the phone call. Valentina had a way with words but it wasn’t just what she said, it was the emotion in her voice when she said them. It always left Juliana in no doubt that what they had between them was so real and so strong and she was willing to blindly chase after it. And it gave her so much encouragement to know that Valentina was there to hold her hand whilst she did.

* * *

_12:58_

Juliana arrived at Camden Town station a couple of minutes early and she saw no sign of Valentina yet so she stood in front of the bank branch whilst she waited. She had her earphones in and she closed her eyes briefly as she got lost in the lyrics.

_‘Pardon the way that I stare_

_There’s nothing else to compare_

_The sight of you leaves me weak_

_There are no words left to speak_

_But if you feel like I feel_

_Please, let me know it’s real’_

Juliana had never really believed in destiny and things like that, but her cynicism was thrown back in her face when she reopened her eyes and caught sight of Valentina walking out of the station. Everything that she had just heard in the song was unfolding in front of her very eyes. Juliana would never tire of that overwhelming feeling of complete ecstasy when she caught her first glimpse of Valentina. She really was speechless _every_ time. She even paused the music drumming in her ears just so she could see her better. Juliana could only see Valentina’s side profile because some gringa was blocking her view. It didn’t dampen her amazement though as she could see the sun shining brightly on Valentina’s skin, adding an extra glow to her already rosy cheek. However, when the person moved and Juliana’s view of Valentina became clearer, her mouth fell open. Because now Juliana could finally see what Valentina was wearing. “ _Por dios”_ Juliana muttered under her breath as Valentina clocked her, turning her body towards her.

The heat from the sun, still carrying the remnants of the spontaneous heatwave, felt stronger as Valentina approached her. Juliana couldn’t help but rake her eyes all over Valentina’s body. Valentina was wearing black denim shorts which literally only just about covered her ass and Juliana felt her breath hitch in her throat as she saw the definition in Valentina’s quadriceps as she took each step. She was wearing a sleeveless black and red flannel shirt to accompany her shorts. But the shirt wasn’t the problem as Juliana involuntarily bit her lip. It was the _way_ she was wearing it. Valentina had tied the bottom of the shirt, leaving a knot which was so high it looked like a crop top. Her entire navel was exposed, and Juliana once again found herself transfixed by Valentina’s abs. Juliana believed that it wasn’t fair when Valentina dressed like this because it always ruined her train of thought. She bit down on her lip slightly too hard which stopped her brain from malfunctioning like it did outside of the bar. 

“Hola mi amor” Valentina said sweetly before she pulled Juliana in for a hug.

Like clockwork Juliana’s senses were overloaded with Valentina’s floral perfume. Although it was hot, the main source of warmth between them was the connection that they shared and butterflies erupted in Juliana’s stomach when she felt Valentina squeeze her.

“I swear you’re dressing like this to give me a heart attack” Juliana frowned a little as they broke apart a little bit to look at each other whilst speaking and their scorching eye connection only made the butterflies grow stronger.

“Actually I didn’t know we were going to meet today, so I dressed like this for myself” Valentina protested before she pulled Juliana into her again to continue the hug. “Although I didn’t have my shirt tied up before…this part is for you” Valentina whispered slowly into Juliana’s ear.

The tone of Valentina’s voice was so husky and her hot breath tickled her ear so much that Juliana’s mouth went dry. And the moisture from her tongue seemed to travel south creating a soft throb deep in Juliana’s abdomen. She was speechless again at Valentina’s shameless acts of flirting.

“I’m starving, shall we get something to eat?” Valentina smirked at Juliana as she pulled away from the hug completely this time.

“Yeah ok” Juliana responded awkwardly running her hand through her head.

They walked at a leisurely pace side by side down the high street and Juliana took in her surroundings. She immediately fell in love with the area because of how vibrant it felt. London largely consisted of glass buildings so it was nice to see a bit of colour. In fact, as they continued down the road, Juliana noticed that a lot of the houses above the shops were decorated with different designs. She stopped to take a photo of her favourite one which was above a cute little shop called Namaste. Above the shop was a sculpture of an elephant protruding from the centre and was surrounded by colourful Indian prints. Juliana was in her happy place as she took in the little bit of culture.

“The patterns are beautiful” Juliana mused.

“Almost as beautiful as you” Valentina said wrapping her arm around Juliana’s waist bumping their hips together.

“When did you become such a charmer?” Juliana asked.

“The night I met you” Valentina sounded bashful as she moved her hand up to Juliana’s shoulder.

Juliana didn’t need to vocalise her response because she responded instinctively by moving her own hand to interlock her fingers with Valentina’s. They continued in that position as they travelled further down the street until they got close enough to the Camden Lock sign on the bridge because Juliana wanted to take another photo. Valentina indicated that they needed to go left to access Camden Lock market and Juliana was unsure of whether she should reinitiate the contact because she had been enjoying it but it was now busier here than on the main road. However, she was distracted when she saw a little stall on the corner of the turning selling fresh orange juice.

“Oh my god, shall we get some? It really annoys me that most local supermarkets don’t sell fresh orange juice here” Juliana almost sounded like she was begging.

“I know right and of course, I always buy some from here during the summer, it’s so good” Valentina complied with Juliana’s request.

They bought their orange juices and walked along the bridge and stopped again when they encountered a busker. Juliana stood there sipping her orange juice and embracing the music. She absolutely loved buskers because she had so much respect for people who were willing to share their craft with others. The singer had a soothing tone to their voice and it made Juliana feel at ease. She didn’t recognise the song and thought that maybe it could be an original. It didn’t really matter to her though because she was just enjoying the melody. She was completely content in that particular moment, just in the sunshine, listening to good music, being with someone that she cared for, with that someone equally caring for her, if not more. It was a scary feeling for Juliana. Not because she had never been happy because that would be a lie, yes her life was tough but she still had very fond memories of her childhood, especially with her mum as they had a good relationship. It was scary because she was almost waiting for something bad to ruin it because that’s what usually happened. Usually a day playing with her mum in the local park ended with Juliana in her bedroom listening to a screaming match between Lupe and Chino. The good was usually followed by the bad so with all this happiness she had been experiencing lately, she was almost half expecting herself to wake up and realise everything had been a dream.

The busker announced that they had finished their set and Juliana took her phone out of her pocket so she could note down their social media accounts. It was only then when she realised that Valentina was no longer next to her. Juliana looked around frantically confused as to where she had gone. She was so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t know how long she had been stood alone for. She could only see a sea of people as the weather had prompted an unusual number of people here for a Monday afternoon. However, Juliana relaxed when she saw Valentina bounding over towards her. Juliana found it so cute that she was like an excitable child sometimes.

“Sorry, I thought I could slip off and come back before you noticed” Valentina explained and Juliana could tell that she was holding her hands behind her back.

“Where did you go?” Juliana’s eyes narrowed.

“Sorpresa” Valentina screeched handing a small box to Juliana.

Juliana opened the box nervously as she wasn’t used to receiving gifts. Plus, she thought Valentina and her had already talked about money, therefore she thought buying unnecessary things just because she could afford them was off the table. However, she pushed the thought to one side when she saw the contents of the box. Inside the box was a plain silver chain with a charm. She lifted the box to inspect the charm more closely and the feeling that shot through her heart was completely unique. It was two little hands making a pinky promise. Juliana knew why Valentina had bought it, she understood exactly what it represented. It was their conversation yesterday wrapped into a little charm. The necklace was the physical symbol of their promise to navigate through everything together.

“Val” Juliana’s voice broke.

Juliana was overcome with emotion, she didn’t know what to say because really there weren’t any words to express how touched she was by this gesture. Valentina was giving so much of herself, just on a plate waiting for Juliana to accept it. And she really couldn’t appreciate this fabulous woman any more than she did right now.

“I only got it from one of the street stalls over there so really it wasn’t expen-” Valentina began to ramble and Juliana realised that Valentina thought she was disappointed with her.

“No Val, this is amazing, thank you” Juliana looked up to convey her appreciation with her eyes and she spotted Valentina wearing the exact same necklace she had just given her. “You got one too” Juliana voiced her thoughts out loud as she was holding back tears.

“It takes two people to make a pact” Valentina said holding out her little finger.

“Pacto” Juliana lifted her hand to form the pink promise and the little gesture warmed her heart.

Valentina locked the clasp at the back of the necklace as she placed it around Juliana’s neck. When she turned around, Juliana leaned in to press a chaste kiss on Valentina’s lips to say thank you. The kiss was short and sweet because Juliana wasn’t too sure about Valentina’s preference for PDAs. But when she pulled back, she noticed that Valentina had leaned in a little bit anticipating the length of the kiss to be longer. Juliana smiled and noted it in her head for future reference.

“Where are the food stalls?” Juliana asked.

“Yes” Valentina hummed in response with her eyes still firmly attached to Juliana’s lips and Juliana knew she wasn’t listening.

“El Chapo escaped from jail” Juliana tested her theory.

“Great” Valentina bit her lip as she gave another random response.

“Valentina” Juliana spoke more forcefully this time which seemed to do the trick as she saw the glaze over Valentina’s eyes disappear. But Valentina’s look that followed made Juliana go red as blood rushed to her skin and neck. Juliana could feel her internal soul trying to curl up and protect itself under the intensity of Valentina’s gaze. “Stop looking at me like that” Juliana said shyly.

“How do you want me to look at you?” Valentina’s voice was complimented with a smirk and eyebrow raise.

“Let’s just get some food” Juliana tried to neutralise Valentina which almost felt impossible when she was in this insatiable mood.

They continued to walk over the bridge alongside the canal until they reached the food stalls in the Yard area. Juliana’s mouth began to salivate immediately as she took in the glorious smell from the abundance of stalls in front of her. There was so much street food from a variety of cuisines and she wanted to eat everything.

“How am I supposed to choose?” Juliana whined.

“You know we can come here anytime right?” Valentina joked.

“I know…shut up” Juliana responded poking Valentina in her side.

They walked around for a little bit so Juliana could browse the options in detail. She kept telling Valentina that she had made her final decision right before she spotted somewhere else. Juliana realised how annoying she was being but Valentina still seemed to show her the same level of enthusiasm after she had changed her mind for the tenth time. Juliana finally settled on a choice when she saw The Mac Factory and dragged Valentina over to it.

“Wait I just realised…are you ok with cheese?” Juliana asked hoping she wouldn’t say no.

“People that don’t like cheese cannot be trusted” Valentina smiled sweetly and Juliana appreciated her fellow spirit animal. “Plus this place’s menu is just great” She added whilst winking leaving Juliana slightly perplexed.

However, Juliana’s confusion was made clear when she read the menu.

“Did you really bring me here because one of the options is named after you?” Juliana’s facial expression was incredulous.

“Oye you chose this stall not me” Valentina responded holding her hands up.

“Well are you going to order one then?” Juliana rolled her eyes.

“No I want you to eat me” Valentina lowered the tone of her voice so only Juliana could hear her and the request sent a shudder coursing through Juliana’s body.

“Val” Juliana wanted to sound serious but she was so flustered that she sounded breathless.

“What? I'm already familiar with the taste and I think you’ll like it” Valentina plastered the most innocent look on her face and it drove Juliana crazy with frustration.

“Don’t think that I don’t know what you’re doing” Juliana said whilst eyeballing her.

“I’m just giving you a suggestion, if you think it’s for anything other than the food then that sounds like a you problem” Valentina winked at her before moving towards the van to order her food.

Juliana shook her head before she also ordered her food at the van. Once they had paid for and collected their food, Juliana was about to walk over to the benches so they could eat it.

“Not here, there’s somewhere else I prefer to sit” Valentina explained.

Valentina led them outside of the Yard and up and over another bridge. They stopped on the right of the bridge and there were a few people sat down on the ground so they found a space to do the same.

“I like sitting here because it’s right next to the water” Valentina said shoving a large forkful of mac and cheese into her mouth. “God I’m so hungry” She added with her mouth already full which made Juliana chuckle.

“Yeah it’s nice, I love the boats going past” Juliana mused before she tucked into her food.

They pretty much ate in silence at a ferocious pace because they were both ravenous by this point, only really pausing to compliment the food. When they finished Valentina got up and walked behind her to put the food pots and empty orange juice bottles in the bin. When she came back, instead of returning to her original position, Valentina laid down on her back, resting her head on Juliana’s lap. The action took Juliana a little bit by surprise but she didn’t let it deter her as she lifted her hands up allowing Valentina to find a cosy position. They stayed like that for a while in a comfortable silence, with Valentina occasionally sighing in content as Juliana switched between playing with her face and lightly stroking her face.

“Thank you” Valentina spoke softly breaking the silence.

“Thank you for what?” Juliana asked.

“I don’t know, just for doing something so simple like this with me, for treating me like a normal person” Valentina sounded a little sad.

“Normal?” Juliana was pretty sure that she understood where Valentina was going with this but wanted to give her every opportunity to open up.

“Yeah. I guess back home I’m just Valentina Carvajal, the spoilt youngest sibling of the rich media family, the wild child in the magazines, the one everyone wants at their parties, which is fine and maybe I’ve played up to the stereotype, but no one has ever taken the time to get to know the real me” Valentina explained.

“Maybe because I didn’t know your family was Mexico’s answer to the Kardashians when I met you” Juliana joked sarcastically which wasn’t well received as Valentina just frowned. “I’m kidding” Juliana added quickly as she stroked Valentina’s cheek and she relaxed a little bit. “Even if we had met back home, I would still see you the same as I do now”.

“And how is that?” Valentina’s voice sounded so fragile that Juliana leant down to kiss her on the forehead to give her some reassurance.

“I see you as Valentina, the girl who turned up in my life, the girl who unlocked a part of me I didn’t even know I was hiding, the girl who’s given me the encouragement to accept that part of me, the girl with the purest heart and kindest soul. Valentina Carvajal exists on magazine covers but she isn’t the person who’s laying on my lap right now” Juliana spoke passionately and she could see tears forming in Valentina’s eyes.

“Thank you for making me feel seen” Valentina whispered and Juliana played with Valentina’s pacto necklace.

“And thank you for coming back to the bar to pay for a drink you didn’t even drink” Juliana joked and they both laughed together.

“Yeah that wasn’t my smoothest of moments but I just knew I needed to see you again and talk to you” Valentina began to play with the hem of her denim shorts.

“I know what you mean, even the conversation we had after went on for ages” Juliana recollected.

“You know that was the first honest conversation I had had with anyone about my family” Valentina explained and Juliana couldn’t help but tense underneath. “What’s wrong?” She asked in concern.

Juliana thought back to that night and felt guilty because from the very beginning Valentina had always been open and honest with her. And when Valentina asked her about her family situation the following day, she completely shut down. Talking about her father was extremely difficult for Juliana. It terrified her because the truth wasn’t pleasant. Juliana could feel her hands go clammy and throat go tight worrying about what Valentina’s reaction would be, or if she should even tell her at all. Because how do you tell someone that your father kills people for a living?

“Juls” Valentina spoke again sitting up to now face Juliana.

In a way Juliana was relieved from the break in body contact because it was only making her hot flush worse. She looked down at the now empty space in between her legs searching for some sort of sign. Something to help her decide whether to be honest or not. She didn’t want to lie to Valentina because she didn’t deserve it. However, this was different, she had always kept this part of herself hidden because burying childhood trauma had always been her most efficient coping mechanism growing up. She had a sudden itch on her shoulder blade, so she raised her hand quickly to get rid of it. By doing that she came into contact with the new necklace sitting at the top of her chest and it dawned on Juliana that she didn’t need a sign because she was already wearing one.

“Do you remember when I told you that my mum and I moved to Mexico City from San Antonio?” Juliana asked testing the waters.

“Yeah and that’s where she met Panchito and why you felt like you could leave to come here” Juliana was impressed with Valentina’s recall because they had only discussed it briefly when they first met.

“I never told you why we left” Juliana spoke flatly.

“So tell me” Valentina took hold of Juliana’s hand and this time the physical contact provided her with some comfort.

“We left because we were escaping from the life my father created for us” Juliana tried to keep her voice as neutral as possible, without shaking.

“What did he do?” Valentina sounded a little confused.

“He was a hitman” Juliana spoke so quietly she almost didn’t want Valentina to hear her.

“I don’t understand” Juliana didn’t think she would because encountering assassins wasn’t on the typical list of activities Valentina’s lifestyle accommodated.

“He worked as a contractor for some narcos gangs to kill people” Juliana sounded ashamed because she genuinely was. “And he always managed to get into trouble double crossing people meaning that my mum and I were always in danger so eventually we managed to escape” Juliana finished bracing herself for Valentina’s rejection.

“Wow” came a single-word response.

“I know it’s so wrong what he does and you’re probably thinking twice about being with someone like me now but I wa-” Juliana was trying to rescue the situation but Valentina cut her off.

“Juls stop” Valentina interrupted squeezing her hand. “If anything, I’m trying to imagine what you and your mum must have gone through and I can’t because it’s this horrible crazy thing that I can’t even comprehend. But the thought of not being with you? It has never and _will_ never cross my mind” Valentina placed particular emphasis on the word ‘will’ and that calmed Juliana down a little.

“Thank god because I thought telling you would make you think of me differently” Juliana vocalised her deepest fear.

“When I thanked you before, it was because you don’t see me as a product of my family, so how can I possibly think you are anything like your father?” Valentina’s words made sense and Juliana had never thoughts of things from that perspective.

“Now it’s my turn to thank you” Juliana smiled and stroked the back of Valentina’s hand.

“Well actually, I can think of one way for you to thank me” Valentina’s playful tone was back as she stroked a strand of Juliana’s hair behind her ear.

“And how is that?” Juliana raised her eyebrow.

“Go on a date with me” Valentina said as glistening blue eyes stared directly into Juliana’s. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Juliana was listening to is 'Can't Take My Eyes Off of You', absolute classic but I was actually listening to the Lauryn Hill cover so decided to weave it in :)
> 
> Everything about Camden is 100% accurate, even The Mac Factory having a Macarena dish (google it if you don't believe me lol), it's one of my favourite places so if any of you visit London in the future, do not leave without going there!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FELIZ SAN VALENTIN JULIANTINA!!!! To celebrate this majestic day, I've split the chapter in half as my gift to you all. So this serves as a Part 1 and I'll post Part 2 during the week.
> 
> As always, thank you all so much for the feedback and also for being patient in this mini hiatus whilst I finished my deadline :)
> 
> Valentina's POV.

_00:22_

Valentina was stood waiting for the lift to arrive to take her to the ground floor of her building. Guille had just messaged her to tell her that him and Renata would be arriving at any minute. She was so excited knowing the time had finally come for her to be reunited with her big brother. She missed Guille terribly whilst she was in London because he had always been a true support system for her back in Mexico. It was especially hard for her at the beginning as she felt a little isolated, but she soon made some friends which alleviated the feeling to some extent. However, nothing could replace the bond she had with her older sibling so she was looking forward to spending some quality time with him.

As Valentina entered the lift, she also knew her excitement was accompanied with nervousness. It is an enigmatic experience for Valentina to be simultaneously excited and nervous because they are manifestations of the same energy, it was just her mind which interpreted the energy as positive or negative. Valentina couldn't believe how much had changed in both her and Guille’s lives in such a relatively short space of time. Guille was arriving with a girlfriend, someone he loved so much that he wanted to fly her across the Atlantic Ocean to introduce her to Valentina. And Valentina couldn’t wait to meet the person who had captured her brother’s heart, plus she was slightly relieved because she was slowly beginning to believe he would be single forever. However, despite the obvious good news, Valentina also knew what else would be coming in her direction. She knew Guille was going to ask her about her own love life as she assumed he knew about her break-up with Lucho by now. As Valentina thought about this, her mind switched again to tell her she now felt more nervous than excited. Valentina tried to push the thought to one-side when the doors opened, and she sprinted straight outside to throw herself into her brother’s arms for a long overdue hug.

“GUILLE!” Valentina's squeal rivalled even the loudest of dolphins.

“Hola hermanita” Guille greeted Valentina lifting her up before he finally released her gently back onto the floor. “Val, meet Renata. Renata, this is my baby sister who I’ve told you all about” He added.

“Hi Valentina, it’s nice to finally meet you” Renata said before leaning in to kiss Valentina on her cheek, however Valentina had other ideas and pulled her straight in for a hug.

“Sorry I’m a hugger, and I’m so happy to meet you too” Valentina replied before releasing Renata from her grip. “Really Guille, I can’t believe you have a girlfriend, I’m still in shock” Valentina added in dramatic fashion.

“Shut up and show us inside” Guille said whilst walking around to the back of the cab to grab the suitcases.

They all managed to squeeze into the lift together with the suitcases because Guille and Renata only had hand language with them. When they arrived in Valentina’s flat, they put the bags down and made their way over to the island in the kitchen.

“Wow Valentina this place is incredible” Renata mused.

“Yes, our sister may be controlling but she does have good taste” Guille added whilst raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, don’t tell her of course, but sometimes I’m very grateful she bought it” Valentina said as she opened a cupboard to get some glasses out. “Wine?” She asked.

“Not for me, it’s been a long day” Renata politely declined.

“Even more reason to have a glass” Guille reasoned while he walked over to the fridge to grab a bottle of white.

Guille’s response made Valentina smile because it is always the little comments and gestures that make you realise how much you’ve missed a person. When Guille came back to the counter, he placed a small kiss on Renata’s forehead and she noticed her nuzzle into his touch. Valentina had only been with them for five minutes, but she could sense the tender love between them, it was real, and it was strong. She couldn’t help but think of Juliana in this moment as her heart started to yearn for the person who had captured hers. She hadn’t seen her since Monday and it was now Friday night as they battled their way through their conflicting schedules. They made every effort to stay in contact through texting and phone calls but Valentina was struggling because it would never be enough. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that not being close to Juliana physically pained her. What’s worse is they still hadn’t even confirmed the scheduling of their date yet because Juliana was overrun at the bar. One of her co-workers was off ill which required Juliana to work longer shifts meaning she was too exhausted to have their date during the day. Valentina knew she was acting like lovesick puppy and she had begun to languish in the fact that she felt sorry for herself.

“Valentina” Guille’s voice cut through her train of thought.

“Sorry what?” Valentina suddenly remembered that she had guests.

“I was asking how you’ve been recently” Renata spoke quietly and Valentina felt guilty for being rude.

“Sorry, yeah I’m fine, better than that actually, I’m doing well, really good” Valentina explained enthusiastically trying to make up for her lack of attention.

“Oh but I saw Lucho the other day” Guille responded and Valentina’s heart sank a little as the inevitable conversation topic came up.

“So what?” Valentina deadpanned.

“He said you two aren’t doing well” Guille sounded a little confused.

“Is that what he said? Not doing well? Of course we aren’t, we broke up!” Valentina barked in response.

“What? You two broke up? Why? You’ve been together for ages” Guille wasn’t helping.

Valentina was infuriated. Why would Lucho lie and pretend they were still a couple? She had explained to him she didn’t want to be with him anymore. Even when he pleaded and told her he would wait for her to get over her father’s death, she bit her tongue and explained to him that grief wasn’t the obstacle between them. The obstacle wasn’t Juliana either. She just simply didn’t love him anymore, not the way she should do, not the way a person who is in love does. And if she was being totally honest she had an inkling about this before she left Mexico. She definitely confirmed this in the months after she had arrived in London way before that wonderful night in the bar. Meeting Juliana was just the trigger she needed to actually do something about it. And the relief she got when she hung up the phone was the only proof she needed to know she had done the right thing. Valentina was annoyed at herself because she’d actually spent the days after feeling a little bad for him. They’d spent a significant portion of their lives together as a couple so she could understand how heartbroken Lucho would be feeling. But now after hearing he was lying to people, pretending they were still in a relationship, Valentina wanted to book the first flight out of Heathrow to confront him about his bullshit.

“So I’m supposed to just stay with him out of duty?” Valentina was struggling to remain calm.

“No of course not, it’s just…you know…you two were happy before you left” Guille unknowingly continued to push Valentina’s buttons.

“A lot can change in nine months, aren’t you two suddenly getting together the perfect example of this?” Valentina snapped eyeballing Guille.

“I’m just going to the toilet” Renata spoke quietly before getting up to make her exit.

Valentina felt bad that Renata felt so uncomfortable she had to leave the room. She didn’t even mean the sly dig she made about their relationship. She instantly regretted lashing out but she was angry. At Lucho. At Guille. At the situation. At everything. She sighed deeply wishing they could restart the entire conversation. As soon as the bathroom door clicked, Guille put his wine glass down on the marble counter and turned towards Valentina.

“What is going on Val?” Guille sounded serious and his tone made Valentina twitch uncomfortably in her seat.

“Nothing Guille” She pleaded desperate for him to drop it.

“Valentina…I know you, something’s up” He responded trying to make eye contact with Valentina which only promoted her to look away.

“Can’t you just accept that I’m not with him anymore” Valentina’s voice was strained and she needed to escape before she suffocated. “I’m going to bed, everything you need is in the spare room upstairs, the door is open, say good night to Renata for me” Valentina explained and tried to get up quickly to leave but Guille grabbed her arm.

“We’ll speak tomorrow” Guille offered and Valentina yanked her arm away not being able to respond to him.

She quickly walked to the spiral stairs and when she began to walk up them, she heard her brother’s voice cut through the dense atmosphere again.

“Val” Guille spoke with a gentleness and Valentina spun around to look at him, still unable to say anything. “Te quiero hermanita…sea lo que sea…te quiero” the compassion in Guille’s voice caused tears to form in Valentina’s eyes and she quickly ran up the stairs before they threatened to fall.

When Valentina got into her room, she closed the door and pressed her back into it. She slammed her head against the door and she could no longer hold back her tears. With the force of the world weighing her down, she slid herself down against the door and leaned against it when she finally reached the floor. As she looked out in front of her into the dark and empty space, she wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and block everything out. She knew Guille was only trying to be a supportive brother so deep down she wasn’t angry at him. She wasn’t even angry at Lucho if she really thought about it. It was just easier to pretend she was because faking anger towards him meant she could avoid the truth. But as the cool air drifted through her window, seeping into her skin, producing goose bumps all over her body, Valentina was starkly aware she could no longer avoid what she had been trying to suppress downstairs.

It wasn’t actually anger she felt with Guille’s line of questioning. It was fear which presented itself as anger. Fear because she knew he was getting closer to the truth. Guille’s opinion on the end of her relationship with Lucho really didn’t matter to Valentina but his opinion on what sparked it did. Telling Guille about Juliana was a bridge she wasn’t sure she was ready to cross. But she also knew her relationship with her brother was completely transparent, so she knew she wouldn’t able to pretend the bridge didn’t exist. And it scared the shit out of her, so much so she began to dig her nails into her thighs trying to release some of the pent-up tension in her body. Regardless of her brother’s opinion, she knew her feelings towards Juliana wouldn’t change because it was the most real thing she had ever experienced in her life. But that didn’t mean Guille’s opinion didn’t matter to her. She had always looked up to him so she couldn’t bear the thought of him not accepting her or the most significant person in her life. 

Valentina sniffled as she ran her hands through her hair. She didn’t think she’d find herself in this scenario so quickly. Last week when Guille had called to say he was coming to visit, her and Juliana were still wrapped up in the friendzone, so she didn’t think there was any possibility of needing to tell Guille anything. But fast forward a week where Juliana had finally been brave enough to kiss her and take their relationship to the next level. Things were going swimmingly between them and now the one person who she had always been honest with was sat downstairs in her flat. She had pushed the thought to the back of her mind all week but now as she sat on the floor crying, she could no longer run away from her reality.

Valentina heard the spare room door close and she closed her eyes briefly to listen out for anymore noises. She finally got up once she realised Guille and Renata had settled in for the night. She opened her door slowly and tiptoed along the corridor and down the stairs. As she walked over to the kitchen counter her heart sank even further. When she hurried upstairs before she had forgotten her wine glass and she realised she had actually left it completely untouched throughout her minor disagreement with Guille. However, as she looked at the counter and then over to the sink she knew Guille had left her a silent message. His glass had been washed up and was currently placed on the drying rack and the bottle she presumed was back in the fridge. But her previously full glass was sat on the counter, now empty, just staring at her. Valentina sighed at her own predictability because Guille was always one step ahead of her knowing she would try to drink her feelings away.

Valentina grabbed the glass and put it onto the drying rack before turning around to stare into the darkened room. She was tired, mentally more than physically. It was easier when she was in her little bubble with Juliana where no one knew about them, where she could just bask in the glory of her own happiness. But deep down, Valentina knew that this was only an idealistic option. In the real-world Valentina had a family, one which she cherished now more than ever considering how fragmented it had become over the course of the past few years. One which she desperately needed to accept her unconditionally. And that was the scariest part for Valentina. It wasn’t necessarily actually telling Guille she had feelings for a girl, it was the possible rejection that terrified her. She was so far gone in her feelings for Juliana that there was no going back, no amount of rejection would be able to suppress how she felt. Therefore, what would be the next step? She couldn’t imagine a world without her family in it, but she certainly wasn’t going to live in one without Juliana either.

Valentina lifted her hands to rub her forehead, trying to ease the pounding in her head. The low light was only straining her eyes making the pain feel worse than it actually was. She headed back upstairs deciding to save the self-destructive behaviour for another day. When she got back into her room, she quickly got changed and brushed her teeth before slipping under the covers. Before she tossed and turned to find a comfortable position, she completed the new addition to her routine.

* * *

_03:09_

Valentina’s eyes shot open as her alarm began to ring. She quickly reached across to her phone to turn it off, not wanting to wake Guille or Renata who were only across the corridor. She yawned as she leaned across to turn her bedside lamp on. The throbbing in her head had eased which was pleasing as she stretched out a few knots in her body. She relaxed a little when she felt her neck click, releasing some more of the tension that had built up. She rolled over to the other side of the bed, grabbing the bottle she had left there the previous night. She had perfected this little routine by now and like clockwork as soon as she’d finished drinking her water, her phone began to vibrate and she settled into a comfortable position before answering it.

“Hola mi bombon” Valentina spoke huskily.

“Qué tal cariño? Did Guille and Renata arrive ok?” Juliana sounded tired.

“Yes they did and I’m ok, how are you? Long night?” Valentina asked attentively.

“Yeah it was so busy because it’s pay day weekend isn’t it but I’m okay, I’m just tired, I miss you” Juliana replied slowly.

“I miss you more trust me” Valentina replied truthfully.

“Mmmhmm” Juliana hummed in response.

“Any interesting customers?” Valentina heard Juliana laugh as she did every night when she asked her the same question.

“When are you going to just ask properly if anyone hit on me?” The smirk on Juliana’s face was evident through her tone and Valentina blushed slightly.

“Well answer the question then” Valentina responded insistently.

“A girl actually which was a little different because it’s the first time, she wrote her number on a tissue” Juliana explained and Valentina shot up sitting bolt upright in her bed.

“I don’t think your bar should have tissues, they’re bad for the environment” Valentina responded sarcastically and Juliana laughed again.

“Val” Juliana joked.

“What did you do with her number?” Valentina curiosity got the better of her and her tone was a little harsh.

“Valentina” Juliana chastised.

“Qué?” Valentina bit back.

“No te pongas así Val, qué pasa?” Juliana asked in concern and Valentina sighed.

“Nothing” Valentina paused to sigh. “It’s just…I kind of argued with Guille” Valentina felt even more guilty now she had slept on it.

“Why?” Juliana asked and Valentina froze because she almost forgot Juliana didn’t know about Lucho.

“Nothing important” Valentina tried to keep her tone even. “We’ll sort it in the morning” She added.

“I’m sure you will but still te-” Juliana began to respond but Valentina could hear someone calling her in the background. “Sorry I have to go” She said sighing before telling whoever it was that she was coming.

“Ok text me when you get home” Valentina instructed.

“I will but go to sleep don’t wait up” Juliana replied flatly.

“Fine I won’t” Valentina whined.

“Good, te quiero, bye” The softness in Juliana’s voice made Valentina’s heart scream.

“A tí mi amor” Valentina said before she hung up the phone.

As she repositioned herself to go back to sleep, she felt a sense of calm wash over her body. It was one of the things she was most grateful for with Juliana being in her life because she had this ability to act as her anchor, always bringing her back from whatever mood she was spiralling into. 

* * *

_10:18_

Valentina was sat on the sofa outside on her balcony with a cup of coffee next to her on the table. She was alone and she assumed Guille and Renata were still asleep after their travels. It had cooled down a bit since the heatwave at the beginning of the week so she was currently sat with a jumper on and her legs tucked underneath her chin. The sun was hiding behind a cloud which only added to Valentina’s gloomy mood. As she watched a starling fly past, she took in the words playing through her AirPods.

_“Words are turning and we’re just hanging on_

_Facing our fears standing out there alone_

_Oh a yearning, and it’s real for me_

_There must be someone who’s feeling for me”_

Valentina’s thoughts couldn’t help but drift to Juliana as the lyrics triggered her default setting. Since she met Juliana, she felt like she was floating on cloud nine, somewhere in a place that wasn’t even on planet Earth. However, Guille’s arrival was a slap in the face to remind her about how complicated the whole situation was. None of the popular romantic comedies she used to watch in the cinema growing up covered what to do if you’re Allie who meets another Allie instead of Noah. Valentina thought about taking the easy route out because Guille was only here for the weekend, so she could easily just leave telling him until another time. But why should she? She had never been raised to lie or be dishonest. Why should she keep the most significant moment in her life a secret? Plus, Valentina also knew Guille was already aware of something being not quite right because he knew her better than anyone. Yet, she couldn’t suppress her nauseousness because this was the kind of turmoil that couldn’t be shaken. Valentina was unable to feel anything but petrified because every time she anticipated what Guille’s reaction would be, it broke her heart.

Valentina stretched out her legs as she reached down to grab her cup of coffee. She took a few sips hoping the hot liquid would settle her stomach. She was a little startled when she felt a presence coming towards her and she realised it was Guille. She took her AirPods out and left them on the table.

“How’s Renata?” Valentina asked as he sat down beside her leaving a little bit of space between them.

“She’s fine, she’s just getting some more sleep” Guille explained.

“Good and I’m sorry about last night, it wasn’t the best welcoming, perdón” Valentina said remorsefully.

“No pasa nada hermanita, just tell me what’s wrong” Guille requested softly.

Valentina knew this was her chance to be honest with Guille, to get everything out in the open whilst they were alone. She played with her hands digging into her fingers to try and release some of the unrest in her mind. At this point Valentina looked down because she was unable to look Guille in the eye. The tension between them was thick and Valentina shifted uncomfortably not knowing how to form the words she was desperately searching for.

“Relax…what happened?” Guille asked placing his hand on Valentina’s arm.

“I’m a little nervous because I haven’t told anyone yet” Valentina’s voice broke as she spoke the last words.

“But is everything okay?” Guille asked in concern.

“Okay…it’s that…it’s so intimate to be honest” Valentina cleared her throat as she started picking at her fingers.

“You’re scaring me Val” Guille spoke which prompted a rise laugh from Valentina.

“If it’s scaring you, you wouldn’t know how I’m feeling” Valentina jested.

“Wait but…look at me” Guille requested. “Hey” and Valentina finally made eye contact with her big brother. “You can trust me, do you know that?”

Valentina nodded as she pushed her tongue to the front of her mouth. She looked down again as she continued to pick at her fingers. This was it, Guille was telling her she could trust him to share her truth with him. Valentina looked up straight ahead and braced herself before looking at Guille.

“I’m in love” Valentina voiced for the first time.

“Uh huh” Guille responded as if Valentina was stating the obvious.

“With a girl” Valentina tentatively forced the words out and she saw the alarmed look on Guille’s face before she resumed staring straight ahead.

“Well…I…I…you’re in love with a girl?” Guille stuttered and Valentina nodded not being able to stop the tears forming in her eyes.

“I mean I think so…I mean I’m pretty sure that I am” Valentina’s voice broke again.

“But why are you crying?” Guille asked and Valentina breathed a small sigh of relief. “There is…absolutely _nothing_ wrong with it. I thought you were going to tell me something…actually serious” Guille added and his words made Valentina laugh.

Valentina finally stopped picking at her fingers and she lifted her hands up towards her face, shaking her head slightly against them.

“I don’t know what people are going to say when they hear” Valentina’s voice was strained as she began to cry. “Dad! I mean, if he was alive, what would Dad say or Mum, or Eva…can you imagine how Eva will be like” Valentina sounded exasperated as she began to panic.

“No no no, listen…listen to me Val” Guille grabbed hold of Valentina to try and calm her down. “It should not matter to you what people are going to stay, understood?” Guille spoke quickly.

“Mmmhmm” Valentina nodded.

“What matters here is you…your feelings…I mean do you still feel something for Lucho?” Guille asked.

“No!” Valentina shot the thought down immediately.

“There’s your answer…you don’t have to keep wondering” Guille explained and Valentina nodded in agreement. “Well, who are we talking about?” He asked and Valentina chuckled.

“She’s called Juliana” Valentina replied and the thought of her lovesickness made her feel so overawed she put her face in her hands.

“Tell me more” Guille smiled.

“We met in the bar she works at and it just happened from there, I can’t even explain it properly Guille, we just have this crazy connection and energy between us” Valentina paused smiling from ear to ear “Guille I love her and I don’t think it’s possible to ever stop” She added.

“What can I tell you? I like it because you are happy…that’s what matters the most to me” Guille responded and Valentina looked at him again.

“Gracias” Valentina spoke quietly.

“I’m going to go and check on Renata ok” Guille got up and squeezed Valentina’s leg before he walked back inside.

For the first time since her brother’s arrival Valentina felt like she could breathe clearly again. The relief that was flowing through her veins was overwhelming and Valentina wiped the remnants of the tears from her cheeks that had fallen during her conversation with Guille. He didn’t hate her, better yet, he was actually happy for her. Guille only cared for the happiness that existed in his little sister’s heart. The fact that Juliana was a girl didn’t phase him and Valentina was eternally grateful for his support. She chuckled thinking about his reaction which she couldn’t have predicted more incorrectly. Valentina was expecting him to reject her feelings and show some sort of disgust but she didn’t receive any of that. In fact, he didn’t constitute the gender of the person she was in love with as a serious problem at all.

Valentina bit her lip at the thought that just crossed her mind. The person she was _in love_ with. She was _in love_ with Juliana. Valentina smiled to herself as she picked up her coffee to finish it. Telling Guille she was in love with Juliana came instinctively, it wasn’t necessarily something she had thought about telling anyone until then, or even telling herself. But it was so painstakingly true, Valentina was hopelessly and irrevocably in love with Juliana. It was a love that consumed every fibre of her being and it was ever growing to a point where Valentina was sure she would soon combust. It shocked Valentina how quickly it had happened and she couldn’t quite pick the point at which she had actually fallen in love with Juliana. Maybe it was coup de foudre, maybe it wasn’t. She would never truly know because none of it was scripted, it was just a development which happened to be the most authentic and natural thing she had ever experienced in her life. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song is Higher Love by James Vincent McMorrow for those of you who are interested :)
> 
> I'm on twitter too: @juliantina_vida


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is Part 2 so continuing with Valentina's POV. I proof read this very quickly so if it has typos, I apologise in advance :)

_21:13_

Valentina was out at dinner with Guille and Renata in a fancy Mexican restaurant which Guille insisted on dining in because the head chef had just received their first Michelin star. Valentina really wasn’t that interested but she went along with her brother’s wishes anyway. Despite the faff, Valentina was sat eating her dessert with Guille and Renata, and her heart was humming in content. The day had gone so well after she came out to Guille. The barrier between them had dissipated and they were able to have the reunion she had desperately wanted when he first told her he was flying over to London. Guille had even insisted Valentina invite Juliana to breakfast tomorrow morning so he could meet her. She hadn’t gotten around to pitching the idea to Juliana yet. But she was sure she would say yes because they had spoken at length about Valentina’s relationship with Guille and how important her older sibling was to her. Valentina also spent the day getting to know Renata better which was at the top of her priority list since she hadn’t given her the most pleasant of welcoming’s. Valentina cherished the newfound openness and honesty between them and it was kind of ironic for Valentina to know her and her brother had managed to fall in love at the exact same time.

“So, have you thought about what you want to do after you finish your degree here?” Renata asked and Valentina forced a strained smile at the predictable question. She didn’t even know what she was doing in uni half the time, so why would she know what she’s doing after it?

“Not really no” Valentina responded politely.

“You’re still coming back home though right?” Guille asked and the question slightly unnerved Valentina as she had always assumed going back to CDMX was the plan, but now she had someone else to incorporate into those plans, she was unsure what the future held.

“I don’t know, it’s a lo-” Valentina cut herself off as she noticed her phone vibrating on the table.

Her phone was turned face down on the table because she didn’t want to be impolite throughout the meal. However, she had a burning desire to check her phone to see who it might be. Well plainly speaking to see if it was Juliana calling. But Valentina thought it was unlikely to be her since she was at work, so she’d have no reason to actually be calling her. So really she should just ignore it. But what if it was Juliana? Valentina’s jaw clenched as the contemplative thoughts ran through her mind.

“I can see you staring at the phone Val, why don’t you check to see if it’s your girlfriend?” Guille asked which caused Valentina to blush profusely.

“She isn’t my girlfriend” Valentina chastised him and quickly flipped her phone over and saw seven perfect letters lighting up the screen. “Permiso, I’ll just go outside to answer” Valentina got up abruptly, moving away quickly to avoid her brother’s smug expression.

“Hola mi amor, un momento” Valentina spoke quickly over the buzz of the restaurant whilst she meandered through the tables to make her way towards the exit. “Juls, can you hear me?” Valentina asked as she finally stepped outside and leaned against the brick wall adjacent to the restaurant, using the coolness of it to calm her now flushed skin.

“Yes, sorry I know you said you were going out for dinner” Juliana sounded a little distressed.

“What’s wrong?” Valentina asked immediately sensing the tone in her voice.

“We had a massive power cut in the bar and it was a mess because obviously the place was full of customers and everyone panicked thinking it was something more serious” Juliana explained and she sounded exhausted.

“Oh that’s horrible, are you okay though?”

“Yeah I’m fine, we just had to close the bar because we couldn’t fix it at the fuse box” Juliana’s words sounded like music to Valentina’s ears.

“So what are you doing now?” Valentina asked cheekily.

“I’m just walking to the station, why?” She asked and Valentina rolled her eyes at Juliana not clocking onto the new opportunity which had presented itself.

“To go where?” Valentina decided to play along.

“Home”

“Why don’t you come to me and meet me?” Valentina asked excitedly.

“But what about your brother and his girlfriend?” Juliana asked anxiously and Valentina sighed.

“I told him about you and about us this morning, I was going to tell you when I spoke to you later because I thought…I don’t know…like the news was too big to just text you” Valentina hesitated a little as she explained.

“And what did he say?” Juliana asked tentatively.

“He wants you to come for breakfast tomorrow” Valentina joked and she heard Juliana release a deep breath before she laughed.

“This I can do”

“And tonight you can’t?” Valentina hadn’t forgotten that Juliana didn’t answer her question.

“Val” Juliana moaned.

“What? I thought it would be nice to see each other since we haven’t had time all week” Valentina tried her best attempt at reverse psychology.

“But you’re at dinner…and I have my work clothes on” Juliana’s response led Valentina to believe she had probably googled the place when they were texting earlier.

“You can come without clothes if you want” Valentina spoke brazenly.

“Val” Juliana responded a little off-guard.

“Well by the time you get here, we’ll have finished eating anyway” Valentina continued to push.

“Val you know I can just do this tomorrow morning, there’s no need to come all that way just to say hello” Valentina thought Juliana could be stubborn when she wanted to be but she also knew she was no match for Mexico’s famous princess.

“No, come back to mine, you can stay the night” Valentina spoke confidently.

“Ok” Juliana responded so quickly Valentina wanted to laugh.

“I knew I could convince you” Valentina chuckled.

“Yes well I should be polite and make an effort” Juliana tried to justify her rapid response.

“I’m sure that’s the only reason you’ve now changed your mind” Valentina responded sarcastically and she heard Juliana scoff.

“Whatever, I’ll see you soon” Juliana responded sarcastically.

“Great, te quiero hermosa” Valentina chirped.

“A tí guapa” She added before hanging up the phone.

Valentina opened the restaurant door to make her way back to the dinner table satisfied with her night’s work. As she sat back down in her seat and excused herself again for leaving the table, she couldn’t hide the toothy grin on her face.

“I was going to ask if everything was ok but going off the look on your face, there’s no need to worry” Guille laughed.

“Things are…peachy” Valentina hesitated slightly as she thought of an appropriate word. “She’s coming here now” Valentina added before letting out a small squeal.

“Really? I’m very excited to meet her” Renata smiled sweetly.

“So am I” Guille grinned.

“Me too and a little nervous because I want you to love her, and I think you will because really she’s amazing, her personality is so pure, it’s so invigorating, I don’t think there’s anyone who would meet her and not like her to be honest and-” Valentina cut herself off when she realised she was rambling. She blushed, feeling embarrassed about rattling off her long list of why she was in love with Juliana.

“Cálmate Val” Guille laughed at her which only caused Valentina to blush even harder.

“Anyway…tell me about what countries you are thinking of visiting next” Valentina changed the subject whilst she ran her hand through her hair, finding an itchy patch all of a sudden.

They continued their general chit chat, just catching up on normal things and Valentina told Renata a couple of funny stories about Guille from their childhood. Valentina was enjoying the conversation, but she was also becoming increasingly impatient waiting for Juliana’s arrival. She wondered if the feeling in her stomach would ever cease when it anticipated a reunion with her. Valentina was familiar with having butterflies in her stomach, but this was something entirely different. The whole of Noah’s Ark paraded through her body when it sensed anything Juliana-related. Wave after wave of intense energy coursed through her veins and she really wondered how she had room in her body to contain it all. The feeling was intoxicating and it always left Valentina chasing more.

As Valentina looked towards the door for the millionth time, she finally caught a glimpse of her. Valentina chuckled when she saw her peer through the glass trying to see inside. It was Saturday night so it was far too chaotic for Juliana to be able to identify them like this, plus they weren’t even sitting at a table you’d be able to see easily through the window anyway. Valentina got up, excusing herself again before going to the entrance to greet her. As she got closer to the door, Valentina spotted the exact moment Juliana registered it was her as her facial expression changed immediately. She initially had a serious look on her face and her brow was creased in concentration whilst she peered through the glass. But as soon as Juliana’s eyes came across Valentina, her entire face softened as she looked straight at her. It was only a subtle change which took place in a split second, but Valentina saw it. It was that particular detail that made her heart chords strain and warm her from the inside. The muscles in Juliana’s face changed again as her face drew into a smile which Valentina matched.

“I’ve missed you” Valentina said as she opened the restaurant door, walking straight into Juliana’s open arms.

Valentina wrapped her arms around Juliana’s shoulders and gripped on tightly to draw their bodies together. She really had missed the feeling of Juliana’s physical presence and she closed her eyes, breathing Juliana’s scent. Her natural scent was overpowered by the smell of alcohol which wasn’t surprising since she had just come from work. Valentina heard Juliana hum in content as she began to manoeuvre her own hands. As soon as Valentina felt Juliana’s fingers ghost along the crease in her back, she gulped as the electric sensation came back at full force.

“I’ve been waiting for this moment all week” Juliana tilted her head upwards and whispered huskily into Valentina’s ear and her eyes to shot open because she certainly didn’t sound this sexy on the phone.

“Err…I…me too” The words stumbled out of Valentina’s mouth as she lost her composure.

“You smell incredible” Juliana spoke a bit louder this time as she brushed her nose against Valentina’s neck which made her feel dizzy. “What perfume do you wear?” Juliana’s breath tickled Valentina.

“It’s called Idôle” She choked out.

“Hmmm…suits you” Juliana said before she placed a kiss on Valentina’s neck and it took all of Valentina’s internal strength and willpower not to moan out loud because she was aware they were stood in the middle of the street.

Valentina pulled back slowly needing to create some space between them before she did something she couldn’t be held responsible for. Juliana was just smirking at her and it left Valentina’s mouth agape wondering where this version of Juliana had come from. Not that she was complaining.

“I’m a little nervous about meeting Guille and Renata” Juliana admitted.

“Don’t be, they’ll love you” Valentina responded as her brain slowly restored its full functionality.

Before making their way back inside, Valentina slipped her hand into Juliana’s in an attempt to give her some reassurance. Valentina felt Juliana give it a little squeeze to let her know she was okay to continue and Valentina opened the door to walk towards the table. When Valentina’s steps slowed as they approached the table, she could feel Juliana begin to pull her hand away. However, this time it was Valentina’s time to tighten her grip because they had nothing to shy away from. As they got to the table, Valentina smiled because she noticed the chair next to her which they had previously dumped their belongings on was now empty.

“Guille” Valentina summoned his attention as him and Renata were sat with their backs to the door.

Both Guille and Renata stood up and turned around and Valentina almost wanted to cry when she saw the enormous smiles on their faces.

“So you are the famous Juliana who’s put the smile back on my baby sister’s face” Guille spoke warmly.

“I’m not sure if it is just me but yes I’m Juliana” She replied modestly and let go of Valentina’s hand to lean in to kiss Guille on each cheek.

“I’m Renata, it’s really good to meet you Juliana” Renata added before leaning in to greet Juliana.

All four of them sat down and Valentina took hold of Juliana’s hand again underneath the table, giving it another gentle squeeze. Valentina could sense Juliana was still nervous and she desperately wanted her to relax.

“I will ask for another glass so you can help us finish this bottle Juliana” Guille said as she began to twist in his chair looking for a waiter.

“I don’t drink alcohol” Juliana replied tentatively.

“The Carvajals seem to forget refreshments without ethanol in them taste nice too” Renata added before pouring a glass of water for Juliana.

“Thank you” Juliana chuckled.

“Nothing beats a good glass of wine” Guille mused.

“True or a shot of-” Valentina began to add but was cut off.

“Mezcal” Juliana finished her sentence and Guille raised his eyebrows. “It was the first thing Valentina asked for when we met” Juliana explained.

“Hermanita, your predictability precedes you” Guille joked.

“They didn’t even have it anyway” Valentina protested.

“Yes but we do now” Juliana looked and Valentina directly and smiled at her.

“Only because someone made a request to the owner to stock it alongside patrón” Valentina explained still maintaining their eye contact, lifting her free hand to tuck a strand of Juliana’s hair behind her ear.

“Wow I never thought I would see the day you turn to mush” Guille interrupted their little moment and Valentina looked at him rolling her eyes.

“Shut up and drink your wine” Valentina’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

The conversation continued between the four of them whilst they finished off the bottle of wine. Valentina sensed the slight nervousness Juliana initially felt ease away as the conversation flowed. Guille was the main cause of this as he got his own revenge by telling Juliana some embarrassing stories of Valentina’s childhood, which prompted a lot of laughter. Valentina didn’t actually contribute to the conversation too much as she was just happy to sit and enjoy the scene before her. Juliana getting along and even joking with her brother was beyond anything she could have wished for.

In typical British fashion, the moment their glasses became empty, a waiter came straight over to clear the table, before offering to get them the bill. Even after being in London for nine months, Valentina still couldn’t get used to the abrupt nature of waiters trying to rush you out of the restaurant as soon as they spotted you were finished. The contrasting culture also shocked Guille which led to a discussion of whether to leave a tip or not. Despite Valentina insisting it wasn’t necessary as it’s included as service charge in most British restaurants, Guille decided to leave one anyway. Once they were finally finished, they made their way outside to catch a taxi back to Valentina’s flat. _  
_

* * *

_00:24_

Valentina was sat on the edge of her bed staring at the bathroom door. Juliana was inside getting prepared for bed and she had yet to do so. She almost felt like she was glued to the bed as she tried to come up with a plan of action for tonight. When they had gotten back from the restaurant, they had all sat down to watch a random talk show in the living room together because none of them were ready to go to bed. However, the content of the show wasn’t what put Valentina in the mood she was in. It was the length of the show. For the entirety of the programme, Juliana was sat by her side, slowly stroking the inside of her leg underneath the blanket that covered them. Valentina assumed she was probably doing this absentmindedly, however this fact did not deter her arousal from growing. It didn’t stop Valentina from biting her lip several times trying to suppress the growing throb between her legs. Valentina knew Juliana’s simple action was intended to be affectionate, but she was so attracted to Juliana, her mind refused to interpret it as such.

However, now as Valentina was sat on her bed, she didn’t know how she was possibly going to lie next to Juliana all night and not touch her. To be honest, it wasn’t even her fault, it had been a long time since Valentina had had sex. And now things were progressing with Juliana, there was only so many times she could tame her own libido before she needed the real thing. But as Valentina gripped the sheets beneath her a little tighter, she knew she should cast her needs to one side. She believed there was no way Juliana would be ready to take things further just yet. And Valentina knew more than anything that she shouldn’t try to push her there either. However, things at the BBQ last weekend had escalated to a point where neither of them really knew if they were going to stop. So maybe Juliana was more ready than she thought? Valentina didn’t really know and she didn’t really have much more time to overthink herself into a frenzy as she heard the tap stop running in the bathroom. After a few more seconds she heard the door click and Valentina looked up to see Juliana wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Seeing Juliana dressed like this only increased her arousal because there was really nothing sexier than seeing Juliana wearing her clothes.

“Are you going to sleep in that?” Juliana asked with a rise smile on her face.

“No…I just hadn’t gotten changed yet” Valentina let go of the quilt beneath her.

“You can sleep without clothes if you want” Juliana repeated almost the exact expression Valentina had said to her earlier and in the exact same tone as she had too.

“I…erm...I’ll go” Valentina was lost for words for the second time this evening and she blushed under Juliana’s smirk.

“Get changed?” Juliana raised her eyebrows.

Valentina couldn’t even verbally respond, she just nodded and walked quickly straight into the bathroom, leaving the door slightly ajar. She walked over to the sink and looked at her flushed face in the mirror. She couldn’t get over Juliana flirting with her. Usually it was her who made little offhand comments, but this evening their roles had almost reversed. Juliana being the one to suggest she should sleep naked was a whole different ballpark and Valentina didn’t know how to respond. Was she pushing their boundaries a little further? Or was she just joking with her? Valentina saw her current predicament as an opportunity to gauge Juliana’s seriousness. In her haste to snap herself out of the daze she was in, Valentina had walked into the bathroom without actually bringing any clothes with her. So, to seek an answer her question, she removed the top she was wearing and walked back out of the bathroom.

“Sorry I forgot to grab something to change into” Valentina spoke nonchalantly as she sauntered across to her wardrobe.

Valentina opened it quickly as she knew there was a mirror placed on the inside, giving her the perfect cover to watch Juliana’s reaction. And Valentina was encouraged by what she saw. Juliana’s jaw was clenched as she stared directly at her back. Valentina decided to step up her game and she slowly unbuttoned her jeans and slid them down to her ankles.

“I might as well take these off and leave these since I’m here” Valentina explained whilst still looking into the mirror and this time she saw Juliana gather a portion of her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Are you doing this on purpose?” Juliana’s deep voice came out like a whisper and Valentina could see her body position shift slightly as she sat on the bed.

“Why would you suggest such a thing?” Valentina lied still facing away from her, this time watching Juliana lick her lips. “Anyway, I’ve got what I need now, I’ll be back” Valentina said cheekily grabbing a couple of items before returning to the bathroom.

This time she closed the door properly because she needed to go to the toilet. As she sat down, she contemplated what to do next. Juliana’s reaction meant she was equally as turned on as she was so maybe it was time to explore a new boundary. The sexual attraction couldn’t be avoided for much longer, could it? Valentina knew Juliana needed to take it slowly, however, none of the signs seemed to point to this right now. This was all about desire and it was clear from this exchange that they had it in abundance between them. She really was caught between two minds whether to follow her instincts or hold back.

“Come to bed Valentina” Juliana requested from the bedroom and Valentina felt a shrill pass through every portion of her body.

She hadn’t even realised she had been sat on the toilet for that long. Or maybe she hadn’t and Juliana was just being impatient? One thing she was absolutely certain of was the tone in Juliana’s voice. It wasn’t a simple ‘come to bed because I want to sleep’ sort of tone. Her voice was still laced with the same arousal as when she asked her whether she was undressing in front of her on purpose.

“I won’t be long” Valentina responded quickly.

Juliana had made up her mind for her. It wasn’t the time to pussyfoot around boundaries anymore. She wanted Juliana and it sounded like Juliana wanted her too. If there was one thing she learnt growing up in the Carvajal family, it was to go after what you want. Valentina stood up and looked at the clothes she had brought into the bathroom. After removing her bra, she chose to put on a pink long-sleeved shirt, decorated with palm trees, boats and a few flamingos. Valentina quickly brushed her teeth before walking back to the door. She hesitated when she gripped the handle. She chuckled to herself at the situation she was in. Sex had never been anything that made her anxious growing up. It wasn’t the best experience in the world but it wasn’t the worst either. However, never once had she overthought the idea of having sex as much as she did with Juliana. Valentina was absolutely desperate to get things right between them. She wanted Juliana to feel comfortable and she was slightly fearful of her own desire taking over causing her to end up doing the exact opposite of that.

Valentina turned the handle and pulled the door open towards her and she was greeted with a fabulous sight. Juliana was now lying down in the bed, with the quilt rolled down resting just below her feet. As Valentina locked onto Juliana’s brown orbs, she could feel the tension in the room rising and she knew the increase in temperature was purely a figment of her imagination. Valentina’s eyes travelled downwards as she could see Juliana’s navel which was slightly exposed due to her t-shirt riding up. She let out a little breath before walking slowly to her side of the bed. Valentina slipped herself into the bed beside Juliana, leaving a small gap between them. Valentina stared straight up at the ceiling above her, trying to remain calm in an attempt to suppress the growing ache between her legs.

“What are you waiting for?” Juliana’s raspy voice asked.

“What do you mean?” Valentina was a little confused.

Valentina sensed Juliana’s body position shift, turning towards her in a millisecond and her hand weaved its way underneath the base of Valentina’s skull, pulling their lips together. Unlike the last time, Valentina’s mind was completely alert and she registered the feel of Juliana’s lips on hers immediately. She would never ever get tired of the release of adrenaline which shot through her entire nervous system when their lips met. This kiss was entirely different to their last one as their lips moved slower, in a languid pace instead of a frantic one. Regardless of the slower pace, it was still a kiss which was packed with the same passion and intensity as their first one. Valentina could feel herself getting lost in the kiss as Juliana enveloped her senses once again. However, she was dragged from her reverie when Juliana pulled away a fraction but her close proximity to Valentina’s lips left her feeling breathless.

“Tell me you haven’t been waiting to do this all evening” Juliana’s voice ghosted against Valentina’s lips.

Juliana’s teasing was enough to prompt Valentina’s inner desire to take control of the situation. She pushed Juliana backwards so she was lying flat on her back again. Valentina lifted her leg across Juliana’s body to get herself into a straddling position on top of Juliana. She heard Juliana gasp as the movement took her by surprise. Valentina placed her hands either side of Juliana’s head and shifted her body weight onto her shoulders so she was hovering directly over Juliana looking into her brown eyes.

“I haven’t actually” Valentina stated which caused Juliana’s brow to crease.

“Why?” Juliana sounded a little offended.

“Because I have been waiting far longer than just tonight trust me” Valentina smirked and she saw the light in Juliana’s eyes remerge.

Valentina relaxed her shoulders to lean down so she could connect her lips with Juliana’s again. The texture of Juliana’s lips was another thing she would never tire of. They felt magnificently soft and smooth as they pushed back against hers. She was greeted with a hit of Juliana’s minty breath each time their mouths opened slightly. It was an intoxicating smell which sent her senses into overdrive. Apart from the bed underneath them, she was unable to register anything else around her except Juliana’s lips against hers. Juliana was an all-encompassing vacuum which she never wanted to escape from.

Valentina’s mind signalled that the time for pleasantries was over, so she ran her tongue along Juliana’s bottom lip seeking access to more. Juliana readily opened her mouth and when their tongues connected, Valentina felt like her whole body was on fire again as the throbbing between her legs intensified. Valentina revelled in Juliana’s confidence this time as she was clearly trying to assert her own dominance. As Juliana pushed her tongue back into Valentina’s mouth, Valentina let out a breathy moan and Juliana pulled back smiling against Valentina’s lips. The familiar idiom, _‘two can play that game’,_ shot through Valentina’s mind as she recaptured Juliana’s lips again. This time, she took Juliana’s tongue into her mouth, sucking on it slowly, adding some extra pressure by gathering it in her teeth. She felt very pleased with herself as Juliana’s hips involuntarily buckled upwards pressing into Valentina’s centre. Valentina swallowed another moan, releasing her tongue with a small pop, and then repeating Juliana’s action by pulling back to smile against her lips.

Valentina’s playful move seemed to spark something inside Juliana as she pushed herself upwards from the bed so she was now sat upright, with Valentina sat on top on her legs in her lap. When Valentina looked down into Juliana’s darkened orbs, she could see that her pupils were dilated. They remained like that for a few moments, just staring at each other. The silence was filled only with the sound of both of them trying to get their breaths back. Valentina appreciated this small pause as it gave them both the time to embrace the electric atmosphere between them. Juliana licked her lips before tilting her head upwards as she moved to press her lips against the base of Valentina’s neck. Valentina’s mind travelled back to the moment outside the restaurant when Juliana kissed her there before. But this time was different as she felt Juliana run her tongue along the length of her neck and Valentina pressed her eyes shut, tilting her neck back even further as a wave of pleasure rushed through her veins. Juliana stopped half-way to suck on her pulse point.

“Juls” Valentina moaned as she dug her nails into Juliana’s back.

Juliana continued her journey up Valentina’s neck which left her struggling to sit still in Juliana’s lap as the wetness between her legs kept pooling. Valentina thought Juliana would transition down her jaw to continue the attack, but she didn’t. She moved towards Valentina’s ear, taking her earlobe between her teeth to gently bite it.

“I’ve replayed our first kiss over and over in my head so many times” Juliana whispered directly into Valentina’s ear.

“¿Neta?” Valentina was unable to form a coherent sentence at this moment in time.

“Cada noche” Juliana replied before sucking on Valentina’s earlobe.

The implications of those two words sent another bolt of electricity straight to Valentina’s core and she responded by using both of her hands to grab hold of Juliana’s face, crashing their lips back together. As their tongues battled for dominance again, Valentina could feel Juliana moan into her mouth. It was slowly becoming her favourite sound in the world. And the effect it had on her body was unbelievable as it only seemed to turn her on even more. Valentina released Juliana’s face, and gripped onto her back, in an attempt to satisfy her need for friction. She balanced herself, so she could begin to roll her hips, grinding against Juliana’s stomach. It suddenly struck her what she was feeing now as she belligerently rubbed her centre against Juliana. It was a completely unique experience for her. She was pretty sure she was hurtling towards an orgasm and she was completely clothed. This had never happened to her before, to feel like she could be completely undone so quickly just from kissing someone. The intensity was overwhelming and she wanted to treasure the moment. But most importantly, she wanted Juliana to feel what she was feeling too.

Valentina stopped grinding against Juliana’s waist to try and stop herself from getting carried away. She broke the kiss, pushing Juliana’s shoulders so she was lying down flat again but propped up by the pillows on the bed this time. Valentina assumed control and began to place wet open-mouthed kisses slowly down Juliana’s neck and along her collarbone. Valentina knew she was having the desired effect when Juliana began to write against the mattress beneath them. Valentina hesitated wanting to continue her exploration but she needed to be sure Juliana was comfortable. She looked straight into Juliana’s eyes, looking for some sort of sign that she was okay with where things were going. Juliana seemed to pick up on Valentina’s intentions because she nodded quickly. Valentina changed position from straddling Juliana and positioned herself in between Juliana’s legs and slid herself down a little until she was in line with Juliana’s waist. She lifted Juliana’s t-shirt up, pushing it up to expose her stomach. Valentina was enthralled staring at Juliana’s taut abs properly for the first time. She initially dragged her fingers across the area, just enjoying the feel of Juliana’s soft skin under her fingertips.

“Tu piel es demasiado suave” Valentina mused and she heard Juliana chuckle.

Valentina replaced her fingers with her mouth and she placed small kisses along Juliana’s stomach. Valentina looked up Juliana’s body to watch her and she could see her biting her lip. Valentina used her tongue to circle around her bellybutton and she watched Juliana grip onto one of the pillows next to her.

“Can I take it off?” Valentina asked wanting taste more soft skin.

“Sí”

Juliana sat up slightly which allowed Valentina to remove her t-shirt, exposing Juliana’s bra-clad chest. She was wearing a plain black bra and Valentina thought it was truly a sight to behold, wanting to etch it into her memory forever. She scooted upwards to kiss Juliana again and Juliana grabbed the back of her head, pulling their mouths even closer together. She felt the throbbing between her legs intensify again as Juliana ran her tongue along the roof of her mouth. Valentina couldn’t wait any longer and she drifted her hands downwards ghosting her fingertips over Juliana’s breast. She wasn’t totally sure what she was doing but she knew what she liked so decided to try that. As she rolled her finger over Juliana’s nipple, squeezing it through the material, Juliana broke their kiss and she let out her deepest moan yet. It wasn’t necessarily that loud, but the tone of it was rich. Valentina saw it as an encouraging challenge, to push Juliana further and further to the edge, to see what additional sounds she could elicit from her.

Valentina pushed Juliana’s bra strap down, placing a small kiss on her shoulder before looking back at her, seeking further approval. Juliana didn’t nod this time, she just simply sat up again, which Valentina took as her cue to weave her hands around her back to unclip her straps. Valentina’s hands trembled nervously a little as she struggled to unclip all three hooks. She almost wanted to laugh at herself, struggling to complete an action she did literally every single day. When she finally unclipped it, she grabbed either side with both hands, slowly pulling the bra away from Juliana’s chest, dropping it on the floor beside the bed. Seeing Juliana’s bare chest was the most exquisite sight she had ever seen and she couldn’t help but stare to take in all the detail, the shape of her breasts, noticing how one was slightly bigger than the other, the beauty of her erect nipples, the darker contrasting colour of her areolae. Valentina was truly mesmerised as she cast this image into her brain. She only noticed how long she was staring when Juliana started to move her arm self-consciously in an attempt to cover herself up.

“No don’t” Valentina spoke strongly grabbing hold of Juliana’s arm. “It’s just…you’re absolutely stunning, even more so than I imagined” Valentina continued to explain.

“Val-” Juliana tried to protest.

“No I don’t want to hear it, you’re beautiful Juliana and that’s that” Valentina cut her off.

“Te quiero” Juliana responded before pulling Valentina in for a quick peck.

Valentina repositioned herself between Juliana’s legs and began to place small kisses along Juliana’s collarbone again. She worked her way downwards towards Juliana’s breasts. She could hear Juliana letting out little breaths of pleasure which gave Valentina the confidence to continue her journey. As she approached Juliana’s nipple, she began to use her tongue, feeling the bumpy texture of Juliana’s areola due to her arousal. She took the nipple into her mouth, gently nipping it with her teeth before swirling her tongue in a clockwise direction. She looked upwards at Juliana when she heard her moan again, and she saw her with her eyes slammed shut.

“Mírame”

Juliana complied with Valentina’s request and when she locked onto her eyes, she believed they were the darkest shade of black she had ever seen. Again, they held the eye contact for a few moments and Valentina knew the energy between them that they both repeatedly spoke of was at its strongest right now in this moment. Juliana took hold of Valentina’s hand as they silently communicated with each other. Valentina locked their fingers together before she moved across to give Juliana’s other breast some attention, because she wasn’t one to have favourites. She repeated the same action on Juliana’s left breast and when she bit down on her nipple, she felt Juliana squeeze her hand.

“Come here” Juliana demanded.

Valentina didn’t need to be asked twice so released Juliana’s breast from her mouth and began to sneak her way back up to Juliana’s face. Juliana impatiently pulled on Valentina’s shirt until their bodies were pretty much flush together. She was also sure she heard one of the buttons pop off, but it was worth it for the cause. They shared yet another sensual kiss and Valentina was beginning to lose her mind to her own desire again. However, she snapped back into reality when she felt Juliana’s hands slide down the sides of her body, tugging at her shirt. The electricity that shot through Valentina’s core when she realised Juliana was trying to remove it was nothing short of sensational. Valentina lifted herself up slightly to allow Juliana to finish her task. Usually when removing a layer of clothing, one would expect to become colder, but Valentina only felt her body temperature increase tenfold as she felt Juliana’s hands trace over her back. Valentina looked at Juliana to find her staring at her chest. She wasn’t body conscious, but she did consider Juliana’s approval to be important. So, she continued to stare at Juliana trying to work out the expression on her face.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Valentina tried to mask the insecurity in her voice and her voice seemed to redirect Juliana’s eyes to her own.

“You’re not wearing a bra” Juliana responded in an awestruck fashion and her comment made Valentina relax.

“I don’t wear bras to bed” Valentina smirked.

“Well maybe next time you shouldn’t wear the shirt either because I want to see these” Juliana paused and moved her hand to take hold of one of Valentina’s breasts. “More often”.

As Juliana rolled Valentina’s nipple in her fingers, she involuntarily launched her body forwards slightly and bent her head down next to Juliana’s head and let out a moan into the pillow. This seemed to give Juliana some more space as she moved quickly, and the next thing Valentina felt was Juliana’s mouth clamped around her nipple. Valentina was dripping wet by this point and she pushed herself upwards, grabbing onto the headboard to steady herself, giving Juliana better access. When she felt Juliana’s teeth scrape against her nipple, she closed her eyes just before they rolled back into her head.

“Fuck Juls”

Valentina wasn’t even usually vocal in the bedroom and she certainly never swore. But this was different. She had never been turned on like this in her life. She had reached a level of desire she didn’t know existed. Was this the difference between having sex and making love that people spoke about? She was unsure. All she was sure of was the sex she had imagined having when she was younger had not happened until this current moment in time. And she was now absolutely certain it was because Juliana wasn’t involved in previous attempts.

Valentina didn’t wait for Juliana to move across to her other breast as she moved back down to her original position, crashing their lips together once again. Their tongues moved at an erotic and frantic pace and hands were flying everywhere. Valentina’s body was on fire and she could feel her clit throbbing throughout her entire body. She pulled back to attack Juliana’s neck again and she overzealously sucked a little too hard, probably leaving a mark, however, it elicited another moan from Juliana, so she was pleased with her actions. She kissed her way down to her new favourite area again and began to suck and nip on Juliana’s left breast again. Valentina felt Juliana grab hold of her hair, holding her head in place as she began to arch her back off of the bed. Valentina decided she it was time to stop teasing her and she began to trace her hand down Juliana’s body. However, just as she approached the waistband of Juliana’s shorts, Valentina felt her body tense beneath her and she quickly pulled her hand away. Valentina looked up immediately and for the first time she could see a slight hint of panic behind Juliana’s darkened eyes.

“We can stop” Valentina spoke quickly.

“I’m sorry, estoy nerviosa” Juliana explained tentatively.

“Yo también” Valentina responded which was true.

“Let’s continue, you want to” Juliana said moving her hands again but her use of pronoun was the exact reason why Valentina rolled off of her.

“I want us to continue when _we_ want to Juls” Valentina emphasised as she turned her body to face Juliana.

“I do…it’s just...I just got scared…and Val your brother is next door” Juliana stuttered, and Valentina blushed slightly when she realised she had completely forgotten they weren’t alone in the flat.

“Let’s go to sleep” Valentina instructed, leaning forward to drag the quilt over them.

“I’m sorry” Juliana offered.

“Don’t be, we have all the time in the world Juls” Valentina hoped she sounded sincere enough.

Juliana snuggled into Valentina’s side, laying her head down on her shoulder. She reached across to switch the bedside lamp off. Valentina used her free arm to stroke Juliana’s hair and after a short while she heard her breathing even out, signalling that she had fallen asleep. However, Valentina knew that sleep was something she would struggle with tonight. She had meant what she said, she wanted Juliana to feel comfortable more than anything else in the world. But as she stared upwards into the darkness, she was also more sexually frustrated than she had ever been in her life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I'm a tease I'm sorry


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I've taken so long to upload this one but it's here now! Thank you all for the lovely comments on the last one and on Twitter despite leaving it on such a cliffhanger lol. I appreciate you all for showing so much love!!

_19:42_

Juliana was lying on her bed staring into the laptop screen. She had borrowed it from one of her housemates to watch Netflix in an attempt to take her mind off things. She had even chosen to watch Friends, The One Where Everybody Finds Out, to do just this. However, Juliana sighed and closed the laptop lid because if ‘they don’t know we know they know we know’ couldn’t make her laugh, then nothing would at this point. She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. It had been a strange few days since _that_ night. The electrical fault at the bar had turned about to be a major problem, therefore the bar was closed until the situation got resolved. This obviously left Juliana with a lot of free time, time she would’ve expected to spend with Valentina. But apart from the Sunday where they all went out for brunch, she hadn’t seen her at all. Juliana didn’t know if Valentina was subconsciously avoiding her or she really was just busy with university. Because if Valentina was avoiding her, Juliana thought she couldn’t really blame her. She recollected the series of events in Valentina’s bedroom where things finally began to escalate between them. Juliana felt her body flush in embarrassment as she recalled the moment where everything abruptly stopped. She rolled her eyes as the frustration she felt towards herself resurfaced once again. And she paused waiting for the guilt to kick in as it did every time her mind was brought back to that moment.

Juliana hadn’t really wanted things to stop between them because she knew the burning desire she felt for Valentina was completely real. Therefore, she couldn’t quite work out why she panicked. Her body betrayed her as it tensed when Valentina’s hand started to move towards her shorts. Everything hit her at once when the reality of what was happening actually kicked in. The fear emerged from nowhere and it rapidly became overwhelming. And as soon as it did, Juliana began to quickly register their surroundings as she could only focus on Guille being across the corridor. Juliana cringed as she recalled seeing him the next morning when they emerged in the kitchen. He didn’t say anything to them though, nor did he say anything at brunch either, but Juliana thought he must have heard them so she spent the entire morning feeling ridiculously uncomfortable. So much so, she made an excuse after brunch finished so she didn’t have to spend the rest of the day with them. And the disappointed look on Valentina’s face when she left had remained etched in her mind ever since.

It wasn’t that they hadn’t spoken at all, because they were still texting, and they’d exchanged a few phone calls. But things were different, everything felt brief. It was conversation but it wasn’t really conversation. It was that superficial type that didn’t scratch the surface. It wasn’t the conversation that made her heart race and her brain explode. It was dry and bland. And the anguish Juliana felt in her chest continued to grow as she knew she was the cause of this. As Juliana was too busy trying to suppress her pain, she didn’t even notice her housemate walk into the room.

“Juliana we’re going to get kebabs, do you want one?” Grace’s chirpy voice burst through the thick atmosphere in Juliana’s room.

“No I’m not hungry” Juliana’s voice faltered and she deliberately avoided looking Grace in the eye.

“Are you okay?” Grace asked as she sat down on the bed next to Juliana.

Is there anything worse than when someone innocently asks you if you’re okay when you’re absolutely not? Those three words trigger something in your mind, where the resistant walls you have been holding up just immediately collapse. That question meant all of the effort Juliana put in trying to hold herself together had completely gone to waste as she started to well up. She blinked profusely, desperately trying to blink her tears away, but it was too late. She felt the first drop fall and she could see the damp spot it made on the quilt in between her legs. The first drop was quickly followed by the next and before she knew it, Juliana had her shoulders hunched over, looking down as her whole body was wracked with sobs. Juliana heard Grace gasp in shock before wrapping her arms around her. Grace cooed her as she continued to cry out every single emotion she had stored over the past few days. After a few long minutes, her tears began to slow, and she eventually stopped trying to catch her breath. Grace removed her from her hold, leaving a strained silence where Juliana could tell Grace was waiting for her to break it. However, she didn’t really know what to say. She just felt embarrassed and frustrated because she hated crying in front of other people.

“Sorry” Juliana muttered, wiping her nose with the end of her sleeve.

“Don’t apologise Juliana…what’s wrong? Did something happen with Valentina?” Grace questioned.

“Am I really that predictable?” Juliana chuckled.

“No but the only thing that usually has me crying like you just were is boy trouble” Grace explained and Juliana smiled feeling less stupid about her minor breakdown.

“I…just…I don’t…dios no puedo hablar” Juliana chastised herself.

“Unfortunately I can only understand Spanish when they translate it on Jane the Virgin” Grace mused.

Grace’s response made Juliana burst out laughing. She hadn’t really taken to her housemates when she first moved in with them, but she had grown to appreciate them in different ways. Grace was a bit of an idiot, but she always had this knack of removing the tension from a situation. Her head didn’t appreciate this abrupt change in mood though as it started to throb from the pressure of her tears followed by laughter.

“Maybe we should practice. You can be Jane and I’ll be Alba” Juliana offered.

“I don’t watch the show for fucking Alba Juliana, it’s all about Rafael” Grace smirked.

“I was team Michael” Juliana countered.

“Anyway, as much as we can spend the next hour discussing this, let’s focus on the main issue…what happened?” Grace asked bringing the conversation back on topic and Juliana frowned slightly at the end of the momentary distraction.

“I don’t know, things have been weird between us for the past few days” Juliana asked uncomfortably.

“Have you not spoken?” The concern in Grace’s voice returned.

“No we have, but it’s just been different, you know, when you speak but you’re not speaking properly because you’re avoiding something, you have the expression in English but I forgot it” Juliana trailed off when she realised she was getting tongue-tied.

“The elephant in the room?” Grace asked.

“Yes exactly, we have a huge elephant and it’s still growing” Juliana sounded a little exasperated.

“Okay we don’t have that additional expression” Grace paused to laugh. “But what caused the hypothetical elephant?” Grace’s questioned caused Juliana’s face to flush red. “Oh my god, look at you! What happened? Did you have sex? Was it bad? But you two have so much chemistry from that show you gave me the other day? What the hell? Surely you can’t have had shit sex. I mean well it’s not impo-” Grace continued to fire off questions and Juliana wanted to crawl into a hole.

“Grace!” Juliana interjected.

“Sorry babe I got carried away” Grace spoke remorsefully. “Anyways tell me what happened, and I promise to shut up and listen”.

“I feel awkward trying to explain” Juliana admitted.

“So it is about sex? You know I don’t think sex is that much of a big deal, just because we’re women doesn’t mean we don’t like having sex” Grace replied passionately.

“No it’s not that, just I’ve never” Juliana hesitated. “You know” She gestured her eyes towards Grace in an attempt to communicate what she was struggling to vocalise.

“You’re a virgin?” Grace asked almost scoffing.

“Yes” Juliana whispered.

“Oh my god, this explains everything!” Grace exclaimed which made Juliana blush again.

“What?” Juliana felt attacked.

“I don’t mean it in a bad way, it’s just you’re a little uptight when we talk about sex in the house but yeah if it is your first time and everything, I get why now” Grace explained and Juliana stopped herself from rolling her eyes at the ‘uptight’ comment. “So…what happened? Was it not good? Because hun, it’s a learning process, it’ll get better trust me” She continued.

“No, we didn’t” Juliana continued to stare at her bed.

“You didn’t? Wait I’m experiencing so much confusion right now” Grace expressed in her usual dramatic fashion.

“We started but I don’t know…I froze” Juliana croaked out.

“You froze?” Grace seemed flabbergasted.

“Yeah”

“Wow” Grace responded simply and Juliana thought this was probably the first time she had seen her speechless.

“I know I’m so embarrassing” Juliana chastised herself.

“No wait you’re not Juliana” Grace paused and it looked like she was trying to formulate an appropriate response. “These things happen, it’s perfectly normal to not want to have sex with someone and sometimes you do-”

“No it’s not that” Juliana interrupted. “It not that I didn’t want to have sex with Valentina because I did…I do…being with her like that was the most intense feeling. I just got scared. It was a split-second thing and then I couldn’t take it back and I tried to but she said ‘let’s just sleep’ and I don’t know, she sounded really disappointed even though I think she was trying to hide that.” Juliana rambled.

“Well obviously she would be a little disappointed, you left her with blue balls babe” Grace joked.

“I didn’t mean to, I just couldn’t help but overthink things, she’s so experienced and I’m not, and I di-” This time it was Grace’s turn to interrupt.

“Juliana experience doesn’t amount to anything when it comes to sleeping with someone you have genuine feelings for” Grace spoke strongly and rubbed Juliana’s knee for reassurance. “Trust me she would have been just as nervous as you” She added.

“She said she was” Juliana recalled.

“So you have spoken about things?” Grace asked.

“At the time when we stopped, I told her I was nervous and she said she was too but that’s it, we haven’t spoken about it since then” Juliana explained running her hand through her hair.

“Well that’s your first mistake” Grace lightly hit Juliana on her shoulder. “You need to discuss what happened because if you don’t, you’re making a perfectly normal situation into something it’s not. Panicking during your first time is completely okay Juliana.”

“I just don’t want to disappoint her” Juliana sighed.

“You haven’t, it’s just teething problems which happens to everyone. God, I thought this was actually a proper problem like you did the deed but it was shite because then that’s a serious situation” Grace continued to lighten the tension. “But seriously, call her, talk about things instead of pussyfooting around and then bob’s your uncle” Grace added leaving Juliana perplexed.

“Bob’s my uncle?”

“It’s the British version of voilà, basically, talk it out and the elephant will leave and you’ll be able to shag in peace” Grace explained and Juliana blushed again.

“I see” Juliana was pretty sure she understood.

“One day I’ll buy you a British phrasebook” Grace offered.

“Thanks” Juliana laughed.

“Anyways, are you feeling a bit better now?” Grace asked and Juliana realised she sounded a little impatient.

“Yes thank you” And this was a genuine response, she actually did feel a lot better about the situation.

“Good. Now I think you should rethink your response to the kebab question because Tom even offered to drive to our favourite restaurant to pick them up since they don’t deliver” Grace put on her most convincing voice.

“Okay fine” Juliana knew Grace wouldn’t allow her to say no anyway.

“Yes!” Grace squealed and stood up. “And then after, call Valentina right?” She asked and Juliana nodded whilst getting up to follow Grace out of her room.

* * *

_21:52_

**Juliana: Are you home? I want to talk to you about something**

_Valentina: I’ll be home in 5 minutes so I’ll call you when I get inside_

**Juliana: Ok**

It had been three minutes since Juliana had received that text from Valentina and she had felt all 180 seconds trickle by slowly. She wasn’t sure if it was her full stomach from the delicious kebab or the nature of the conversation she was about to have but either way, she felt nauseous as she waited for the next two minutes to pass. Well it could be longer, when people say five minutes, they don’t always necessarily mean five exact minutes, do they? Or perhaps the lift could be ready waiting on the ground floor of Valentina’s building, therefore she was going to call after just four minutes. Juliana regretted returning to her room before texting Valentina because she knew if she had stayed downstairs, then she wouldn’t be overthinking the concept of time right now. She pulled one of her hands away which was tightly gripping her mobile because she was scared if she applied any more pressure, she would probably crack the cheap screen. She was clenching her jaw, re-reading their short exchange, when the screen suddenly switched showing Valentina’s caller ID.

“Hola amor, one second I’m going to put you on speaker whilst I put my shopping away” Valentina sounded slightly rushed. “Can you hear me? I’m not close to the microphone.”

“Just about. You know you could’ve called after you put your shopping away” Juliana pointed out.

“I know but I was impatient” Valentina spoke nonchalantly.

“How was uni today?” Juliana asked trying to stick to small talk until she had Valentina’s full attention.

“Busy, I have a group project, but my group members are useless so that’s why I only just got home now” Juliana could hear the frustration in Valentina’s voice.

“Oh but I’m sure you’ll still get a good grade” Juliana replied encouragingly.

“I hope so” Valentina paused and Juliana heard her stop shuffling in the background. “Okay I’m done, I’m on the sofa now” She added and Juliana could hear the moment she made contact with the furniture. “What did you want to talk about?” Juliana could hear Valentina’s tone of voice shift slightly, almost as if she knew that’s why Juliana was calling.

“Erm…you know…the other night” Juliana’s nervousness prevented her from getting her words out properly.

“When we almost had sex?” Valentina asked.

“Yeah” Juliana hesitated. “I don’t know, I feel like maybe you’ve been avoiding me because of what happened…well didn’t happen” She continued to explain.

“Juls you were the one that couldn’t wait to leave when brunch finished” Valentina sounded offended.

“Because it was awkward!” Juliana exclaimed.

“So being with me makes you feel awkward? Great” Valentina’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“No Val of course not, it’s just that Guille was there, plus Renata and I kept thinking maybe they heard us and I had already disappointed you so I-” Juliana tried to explain.

“Wait what? How did you disappoint me?” Valentina sounded confused.

“You know by not being able to continue with things” Juliana responded tentatively and she heard Valentina sigh.

“Juls I could never be disappointed for something like that, I meant it when I said we will wait until we are both ready” Valentina expressed passionately.

“It’s just that…don’t you think things haven’t been the same?” Juliana still wasn’t convinced.

“I guess…I mean I was disappointed in the way that you left, I wanted to spend time with you and Guille and you literally just ran away at the first opportunity you got” Valentina responded sadly.

“I just felt embarrassed that they heard us, I didn’t want them to have a bad impression of me” Juliana admitted.

“Juls believe me when I say that they loved you and before they left, Guille said it was the happiest he’s ever seen me, I don’t want you to worry” Valentina reassured her and Juliana felt the tension leave her body somewhat as she finally began to relax.

“I’m sorry for freaking out” Juliana suddenly felt really stupid about her mini breakdown over nothing really.

“Don’t apologise, we needed to talk about this, I’ve just been super busy, and I guess I was kind of waiting until you were ready to discuss everything” Valentina acknowledged.

“So you weren’t avoiding me?” Juliana still felt a little insecure.

“No Juls, it’s actually been really irritating that I’m so busy with uni and you’re not at work right now” Valentina professed.

“It’s terrible timing”

“I know, I’ve missed you a lot, I hope you know that” Valentina’s cute voice was back which made Juliana smile.

“I miss you too” Juliana cooed.

“Tomorrow I only have lectures in the morning so now is a good time to ask you about our date” Valentina sounded a little nervous and Juliana found it incredibly cute.

“What did you have in mind?” Juliana attempted to sound coy and starting pouting even though Valentina wasn’t able to see her.

“Oh I already planned it as soon as you said yes the first time, meet me at Stratford station at 7” Valentina spoke excitedly.

“Where are we going?” Juliana asked curiously.

“Es una sorpresa” Valentina squealed.

“Val” Juliana moaned.

“What?”

“How am I supposed to know what to wear?” Juliana continued to complain.

“You don’t need to dress up, it’s super chill, I didn’t think you’d like something fancy” Valentina explained.

“Thank you” Juliana was touched by Valentina’s thoughtfulness.

“So you won’t even give me a clue?” Juliana tried to push her luck.

“No!”

“But if you do, I’ll make it wo-” Juliana cut herself off she was interrupted by her phone informing her she had another call incoming. She pulled her mobile away from her ear to see who it was. “Sorry my mum is ringing, I’ll let it go to answerphone”

“Juls it’s your mother, don’t be rude, you have to answer” Valentina criticised her.

“Fine” Juliana rolled her eyes.

“Text me later, te quiero” Valentina instructed.

“A tí, bye” Juliana responded before hanging up the call to talk to her mother.

* * *

_18:33_

Juliana was panicking. She had been stressed all day but now she was in full blown panic mode as she checked the time for the hundredth time that hour. It was just under half an hour until her date with Valentina and she had no idea what to wear. She had raided her non-existent wardrobe and couldn’t decide on anything. Without the bar being closed, she didn’t even have the money to pop into one of the many thrift shops in London to acquire something nice for a fraction of the price. Juliana knew she needed to get a move on or she would end up being late but apart from turning up in her underwear, she was completely stuck on what to do. She jumped a little when she heard the front door close. Juliana silently prayed it was the one housemate who could actually help her in her current predicament. She hurried out of her room to the top of the landing and breathed a sigh of relief when she saw who it was.

“Come up here please” Juliana spoke quickly and sharply.

“What have I done? Did I leave my straighteners on again?” Grace responded sounding a little frightened.

“No” Juliana frowned. “I need your help, I’m going on a date with Val but I don’t know what to wear” She explained quickly.

“Oh my god, of course. This is where my commitment to every episode of ‘Say Yes to the Dress’ will come in handy” Grace shouted as she galloped up the stairs.

“Isn’t that the one you watch where they pick wedding dresses?”

“Yes…okay fine maybe a little premature but I’m still made for this job” Grace said as she reached the top of the stairs, before she dragged Juliana by the arm back into her room.

They spent about 15 minutes bickering on Juliana’s final outfit choice because Juliana’s idea of date attire seemed to clash with Grace’s, and the words ‘prude’ and ‘grandma’ were thrown around. However, they finally settled on a decision together with Juliana choosing to wear a black and yellow checked shirt with black leather wet-look trousers. Grace forced her to tuck the shirt in to show off her waist a little more, and Juliana agreed to this compromise. Juliana borrowed a pair of black Chelsea boots from Grace, which pinched her feet a little but she would worry about the blisters in the morning. As soon as she put on her outfit and applied some light make-up, Juliana quite literally ran out of the door as she didn’t want to be late. 

* * *

_19:01_

Juliana managed to arrive at the station just on time and she quickly navigated through the huge rush hour crowds to get to the exit. It took her a few scans, but she finally set eyes on Valentina and when she did, she felt her mouth go dry. It had only been a few days but it was almost as if Juliana’s mind had forgotten how effortlessly good Valentina always looked so it was reacting as if it was the very first time she had seen her. Luckily, she managed to maintain enough brain function to actually walk towards her and Juliana couldn’t help it when her eyes roamed all over Valentina’s body. She was also wearing a checked shirt but with smaller blue and white squares this time. She had on standard blue jeans and she bit her lip when she caught a glimpse of her ass as she was stood facing side-on. Juliana smiled when she finally approached her as she realised Valentina hadn’t even noticed she was in front of her because she was too busy looking at her phone. Juliana was about to laugh at the 21stcentury situation when she felt her phone vibrate in her hand.

“I think you’ve got a text” Valentina’s voice took her by surprise because she had noticed her presence.

**Valentina: You look incredible, but you smell even better**

Juliana’s mouth fell agape at Valentina’s words. Even though they were sent via text, she knew they were laced with this confidence that Valentina possessed. And she always knew exactly what to say to make Juliana feel weak. As soon as Juliana looked up, Valentina closed the gap between them, brushing her lips against Juliana’s. She enjoyed the feel of Valentina’s lips on hers and she parted her mouth slightly to deepen the kiss. Despite it being rush hour, therefore overly crowded outside the station, it felt like they were the only two people there and Juliana hummed in content when she felt Valentina’s tongue run along her bottom lip. Juliana tried to readily accept her but instead of entering her mouth, Valentina pulled away, leaving Juliana pouting waiting for more. Juliana felt Valentina brush her cheek against hers so her mouth was directly next to her ear, and she pulled her into a hug.

“We really shouldn’t go this long without seeing each other again” Valentina whispered into Juliana’s ear and she forced herself to suppress her moan.

As Juliana gripped Valentina tightly, she realised how much she had missed her. The feel of her hot skin against hers, the sound of her voice, the smell of her perfume, her irresistible kisses. And as she emerged herself in Valentina’s essence, she almost forgot she should probably respond.

“I couldn’t agree more” Juliana spoke softly giving Valentina a squeeze.

“Let’s go, I’m excited to show you this place” Valentina said pulling out of the hug. “It’s not far, it is in the old shopping centre over there” She added whilst pointing to illustrate her point.

They walked across and entered the shopping centre together. Juliana couldn’t help but feel slightly concerned at Valentina’s choice of venue. Inside was your typical rundown shopping centre with budget shops and street stalls. There was no way someone like Valentina would be caught dead in a place like this. Juliana knew Valentina was avoiding taking them to some swanky restaurant, but this seemed like the opposite end of the spectrum. She admired Valentina’s attempts to not flash her cash but this was a little too far.

“It’s on the top floor, we have to take the lift” Valentina instructed at the exact moment Juliana saw a sign which read ‘Roof East’.

They crammed together in the lift, which Juliana thought smelt awful. Thankfully it was a short ride and the lifts opened and there was a huge queue winding down several flights of stairs. However, in true Valentina fashion, she strolled up to woman working front of house and gave her name. After confirming her name on the list, she smiled at Juliana and they walked straight in.

“It’s so popular here that if you don’t get here at opening time, you’ll queue for at least an hour if you don’t book in advance” Valentina explained whilst they were getting their bags searched by the security guards.

“How far does the queue go down?” Juliana asked curiously.

“This is on level eight, the first time I came here I joined the queue on level three” Valentina responded and Juliana raised her eyebrows in surprise. “I know, but it’s so worth it though, you’ll love it, come on” She added as the bouncer finally stopped poking around their bags.

As they took a few steps inside, Juliana immediately knew that Valentina was right. This place was sobeautiful and so London. And _so_ Valentina too. The first thing Juliana noticed were the classic cars placed in the centre of the open space which were decorated with various plants. Beyond them she could see batting cages, a mini golf course, and a bowling alley at the back. She looked around at the abundance of people and she could see some of them playing giant Jenga. The sun was beginning to set so Juliana noticed the fairy lights and streetlamps which were placed amongst the bunting across the whole open space. Despite the rooftop bar being crowded, it had a vibe which made her feel incredibly relaxed. And the view of the skyline was stunning. It overlooked the Olympic Park and in the distant background Juliana could see The Shard and she smiled as she recalled the location of their first ‘date’, where they ate pancakes together.

“Val this place is unbelievable” Juliana mused.

“They thought of everything and look” Valentina said pointing at a member of staff. “They wear roller-skates”.

“Do you want to get a drink?” Juliana asked spying one of the many bars dotted around the place.

“No not yet, food first because we have a booking” Valentina responded placing her hands on Juliana’s shoulders to encourage her to turn around.

Juliana’s mouth fell open when she realised what Valentina was hinting at. She didn’t see it before because it was hidden on the left-hand side behind the entrance. There was a massive big screen and a bunch of deck chairs in front of it. Juliana’s heart swelled because her and Valentina had discussed this before about how she’d always wanted to go to an Outdoor Cinema.

“You remembered” Juliana stated.

“We’re even watching your favourite musical” Valentina grinned.

“No way? Grease?” Now it was Juliana’s turn to squeal at an inappropriately loud volume.

“Yes, but please food first, I fancy a burger from the truck over there” Valentina gestured.

* * *

_21:30_

The credits began to roll signalling the end of the film and Valentina shifted in her seat so she could stretch. They wore headphones throughout the film so they didn’t really have the opportunity to speak, which you shouldn’t do in cinemas anyway. But Valentina seemed to make up for this by having some form of physical contact throughout the entirety of the film, whether that was by holding hands or a placing her hand on Juliana’s knee. She hadn’t been expecting Valentina to initiate the contact in the first place, so she was pleasantly surprised and grew to enjoy the feeling, so she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed at the loss of contact between them. But it was a fleeting feeling as Valentina quickly turned towards her, removing her headphones and she could see the smile behind her bright blue eyes.

“I’m grateful we were all wearing headphones to protect our ears because someone clearly forgot to tell you that you’re not Olivia Newton-John” Valentina joked.

“You were supposed to be watching the film” Juliana deadpanned.

“I found something better to watch” Valentina pondered which unleashed a ton of butterflies in Juliana’s stomach.

Juliana blushed under Valentina’s gaze and was grateful that people around them started to get up to exit the area because it served as a momentary distraction, which allowed her to regain her composure. They both followed suit by getting up and walked back into the main area and over to the bar, where Valentina ordered herself a beer. They spied a couple of free deckchairs, so Juliana hurried across to acquire them before someone else did.

They sat together just talking about various different for a while, mainly about their views on the world. Valentina continued to surprise Juliana as although she had lived a sheltered and privileged lifestyle, she was incredibly sincere. Plus, Juliana just loved Valentina’s passion when it came to journalism and her desire to cover social issues and to empower minority groups. Although Valentina had hinted before that she was following in her family’s footsteps by studying journalism, Juliana could tell that it wasn’t just a fad, it meant a lot to her and it showed on her entire face.

Throughout their conversation, they both stopped numerous times to point out various songs they liked and even sang-a-long to some of them. The music was so varied, in terms of it covering pretty much every genre across many different decades. It was one of those rare occasions where the DJ managed to cater to everyone and you could sense everyone was having a good time as the atmosphere was buzzing. However, as soon as Juliana heard ‘a ella le gusta’ repeated in quick succession, her desire to do more than just sing kicked in.

“Bailamos?” Juliana asked whilst getting up so she was directly stood over Valentina.

“To this?” Valentina sounded surprised.

“What?” Juliana reached down to grab her hand to try and encourage her.

“I don’t know how to dance” Valentina responded nervously.

“Oh come on Val, don’t be like that” Juliana pouted and Valentina rolled her eyes and began to shift her weight so Juliana could pull her out of her seat.

There wasn’t a specific dancing area, so Juliana grabbed Valentina by her waist to pull her into her, so they were pretty much flush against each other. Juliana looked up at Valentina and could see her cheeks were slightly red.

“Don’t be embarrassed” Juliana spoke quietly it almost sounded like she was whispering. “Just follow my hips” She added taking one of Valentina’s hand in hers and placing the other on her lower back.

Valentina placed her other hand a little awkwardly on Juliana’s hip and they began to sway together.

“Look at me” Juliana instructed which prompted Valentina to pick her eyes up from the floor.

As the song began to reach the end of the first chorus, Juliana could feel Valentina start to relax a bit as her body didn’t feel so stiff. She had quickly managed to match her rhythm, despite claiming she wasn’t much of a dancer. Juliana’s skin felt like it was starting to catch fire when she saw Valentina bite her lip. That small action also caused Juliana to instinctively to press her hips further into Valentina’s and she watched Valentina’s eyes darken slightly as the sensation hit her. The feeling was exhilarating as they moved fluidly together throughout the rest of the song. Juliana could sense Valentina’s confidence increasing as she slowed the rhythm down a little bit and their hips began to move together at a sensual pace. The desire in their movements was matched with the intensity in their eye contact. Juliana was convinced neither one of them had even blinked yet, not wanting to waste even a fraction of a second whilst they shared this moment together. However, Juliana breath hitched in her throat when she saw Valentina’s eyes flicker down to stare at her lips. She felt Valentina slide her hand up her back until she reached the back of her neck. Juliana released a short, shallow breath when Valentina rubbed her thumb against her skin, before she pulled their lips together. This kiss was as sensual as their dance together which had pretty much grinded to a halt as they both focused on manoeuvring their hands into a position to grip each other tightly to deepen the kiss. It wasn’t forced, nor was it rushed, it was just a slow, languid kiss which pushed them into a never-ending oblivion. It was a kiss which produced soft moans and hums of content as their tongues continued to explore each other. It was also a kiss which was interrupted as Valentina pulled away quite abruptly and Juliana immediately registered the group of drunk guys close to them who were currently wolf whistling.

“Shall we go?” Valentina said turning her body so she was blocking Juliana’s view of the group.

“Yeah” Juliana said bending down quickly to gather her things.

They walked over to the exit and chose to take the stairs instead of waiting in the long queue for the lift.

“We’re not leaving because of them by the way” Valentina sounded a little irritated.

“They’re just drunk arseholes Val” Juliana responded.

“I know they are. I just don’t want you to think, I or we, are running away from them” Valentina spoke flatly.

“I don’t”

“Good because” Valentina paused and she grabbed hold of Juliana’s arm to stop her and pulled her into a chaste kiss. It was over before it even started and it took Juliana completely by surprise. “I don’t care about random strangers, I just needed us to leave because if we carried on, I’d probably have gotten arrested for public indecency” Valentina finished her sentence and Juliana half-wanted to go back to the bar to test that theory.

They carried on walking until they got to the ground floor and they left the shopping centre, making their way back over to the station. They jumped onto the tube and got off together at the next stop, which was Juliana’s closest station to home, but also where Valentina needed to change lines to get back to hers.

“Are you coming to stay at mine?” Juliana asked tentatively as they stood on the platform.

“No, I’m being strictly professional on this date” Valentina replied and Juliana frowned. “I’m joking, but I just can’t tonight, I have a group meeting tomorrow morning before my 9am, and I agreed to host so I can wake up as late as possible” She explained further and which completely shut down Juliana’s attempt at overthinking before it even started.

“Okay, well your degree awaits” Juliana said pulling Valentina into a hug.

“I wish it didn’t right now believe me” Valentina replied as she gave Juliana a good long squeeze.

“I enjoyed tonight, thank you”

“So I passed? You’ll go on more dates with me?” Valentina’s childish excitement was back again.

“Don’t be silly, of course, I’ll plan the next one” Juliana offered.

“I can’t wait” Valentina responded as her tube rolled into the platform. “Ok I’m going now” She added whilst pulling Juliana in for one more blistering kiss, leaving her weak in the knees once again.

“Text me when you get home” Juliana instructed.

“I’ll call you, but you text me when you do as I’ll probably still be underground”

“Ok, te quiero” Juliana responded giving Valentina one final peck.

“A tí” Valentina replied before hurrying onto the carriage before the doors closed.

Juliana watched the tube leave the platform before heading towards the exit with a goofy smile on her face. She almost wanted to laugh at herself. She felt like she was living in a romantic movie right now. This was the scene where an unnecessary love song played in the background as one of the main character’s had their solo walking scene to inform the audience of how whipped they were. But Juliana couldn’t even bring herself to cringe at the corniness because she didn’t care. She was happy and she wanted to continue chasing the feeling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the IG link for Roof East (please have a look, it's lovely): https://www.instagram.com/roofeast/?hl=en
> 
> The song is Safari by J Balvin for any of you who are interested
> 
> (I wrote this before Gina Rodriguez's problematic ass popped up again yesterday but I couldn't be bothered to remove the Jane the Virgin reference)
> 
> I'm on twitter too: @juliantina_vida


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm backkkkkkk just in time to deliver a Christmas gift, so sorry for the super long wait, thank you all for being so patient (even you Andrea)! I have to add a little NSFW warning to this but I can assure you, I won't be teasing you all like I did before ;)
> 
> MERRY CHRISTMAS // FELIZ NAVIDAD !!!

_10:17_

“A bottomless brunch?” Valentina’s forehead creased in confusion.

“Yes. Please come with me, I don’t really want to go but it’s Grace’s birthday so it will be better if you’re there too” Juliana pleaded and Valentina knew she was going to say yes even though she had absolutely no idea what Juliana was referring to.

“I mean of course I’ll come cariño, but what am I coming to Juls? What is a bottomless brunch?” Valentina asked.

“I thought as a socialite you would know what I’m talking about” Juliana’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Cállate…do you want me to come or not?” Valentina pretended to be annoyed.

“Yes sorry” Juliana laughed. “It’s food but with unlimited alcohol” She explained.

“Of course she would want to do this for her birthday” Valentina chuckled.

“Exactly, it’s so her. But please you know British people are alcoholics so don’t leave me alone with them” Juliana pleaded.

“They were fine at the barbeque” Valentina smirked remembering the blistering first kiss they shared.

“Because they all had to go to work the next day” Juliana countered.

“True, well I’m coming. What time should I be there?” Valentina asked knowing if Juliana asked her to jump out of a helicopter with her without a parachute, she probably would.

“Our slot is at midday” Juliana replied whilst Valentina pulled the phone away from her ear to check the time.

“I mean, a bit more notice would’ve been nice mi amor” She said as she got up to walk into the bathroom to switch her shower on.

“I know sorry, I completely forgot about it until Grace came in a few minutes ago shouting at me for still being in my pyjamas” Juliana explained which caused Valentina to lose her trail of thought as she began to imagine Juliana’s soft skin underneath those very pyjamas she just told her about. “Val!” Juliana exclaimed which snapped her back into reality and by the tone in Juliana’s voice, Valentina knew this wasn’t the first time she had said her name.

“Perdón, I was thinking about what to wear” She lied.

“Yes you do that and I’ll see you soon, te quiero” Juliana responded and it sounded like she was opening a drawer.

“A tí, bye” She responded before hanging up the phone.

Valentina immediately started removing her clothes so she could step into the shower. Once again, her mind drifted to Juliana. More specifically, Juliana without her pyjamas on. She couldn’t help it, she had never wanted someone as much as she wanted Juliana. The longer time went on, the most frustrated Valentina was growing. Sex wasn’t the be-all and end-all between them because the connection they shared moved far beyond this. However, what Valentina felt in this moment was lust, intoxicating, unadulterated lust. As she closed her eyes, her image of Juliana became more vivid. Valentina bit her bottom lip as she recalled Juliana’s bare chest, the curve of her rounded breasts, and her taut nipples. She let out a small but deep moan when she pictured the way Juliana’s nipples reacted to her touch and her tongue. Not before long, the ache between her legs began to intensify until she was throbbing. And this time Valentina knew she couldn’t ignore it anymore, she had to address her arousal before it erupted out of control. She was crazy with want for Juliana and she had to take the edge off in the only way she knew how. So, she reached out to change the setting on her shower, to ensure the water came from both the shower head above her and the handheld one attached to the wall. Valentina grabbed her shower gel and began to apply it to her chest, paying particular attention to her nipples which were becoming increasingly hard under her own touch. With her eyes closed she was able to imagine it was Juliana’s fingers rubbing and squeezing her, and the longer she continued, Valentina knew she was ready to explode. She opened her legs slightly and grabbed the shower head from the wall, decreased the pressure of the water and increased the temperature a little, before moving it to hold in between her legs. Valentina let out a deep, guttural moan when she felt the hot water come into contact with her sex. She threw her head back against the wall when she continued to adjust the position of the shower head, so the water cascaded directly against her clit. Once she found the exact angle she needed, she reached out to increase the pressure of the water, straight to the highest setting because she knew she was in a rush. Valentina slowly slipped her other hand through her folds, hovering by her entrance. She closed her eyes again as she entered herself with two fingers and she bit down hard on her lip as she began to picture Juliana’s fingers inside her. She built up a rhythm quickly, and it wasn’t long until her moans turned into pants and her walls began to tighten around her fingers. Valentina’s orgasm was approaching like a freight train, so she began to pump her fingers faster, pushing them deeper until her mind went blank and every nerve ending in her body caught fire. She felt unsteady on her feet as she came down from her brief high, but internally she felt so much better. With all of the pent-up energy in her body, a release was the only thing that could temporarily suppress it. Valentina moved the shower head back to the wall, removed her fingers and continued with her shower.

* * *

_11:52_

“I think that’s it there on the left” Valentina instructed her Uber driver as she saw a long line of people queuing outside a venue. She looked down at her phone to double check the name of the place Juliana had texted her, which confirmed that she had arrived at Ballie Ballerson.

The car pulled over and the driver got out to open the door for her, so Valentina made a mental note to remember to give him five stars for his politeness, something she hadn’t experienced a lot of since she started taking Ubers in London. When her cab had driven away, Valentina began to scan the queue to see if she could spot Juliana or any of her housemates. Her concentration was interrupted when she heard a familiar screech from down the road which signalled that Grace, the birthday girl, was approaching. Valentina turned around and she was greeted by Juliana’s warm smile which made her stomach do its customary summersaults whenever she saw her. Valentina could also feel herself blushing slightly as she recalled what she was just doing in the shower not too long ago. She looked straight down towards the double yellow parking lines on the ground to try and get her flushed skin under control. However, when she looked up, she realised Juliana was close enough now to spot her red cheeks as she was now sporting a raised eyebrow on her face. Valentina tried her best to smile through it, but it came out awkwardly which only made her blush even more. Juliana’s facial expression had now changed into a smirk as she finally stood in front of her.

“Estás bien?” Juliana chuckled.

Valentina’s slight embarrassment prevented her from using her words, so she closed the gap between herself and Juliana and pressed her lips against Juliana’s. Valentina knew her movements took Juliana by surprise as there was a small delay, just a fraction of a second, before Juliana’s lips began to move against hers to return the kiss. Juliana also let out a small moan of contentment against her lips, and Valentina felt the vibration travel all the way from her own lips to in between her legs, reigniting the fire she had tried to douse water on before she came.

“Hello, earth to lovesick puppies” Once again, Valentina could hear Grace’s voice cut through their little moment.

Valentina pulled away and turned around to see that the queue had almost disappeared as people had gone inside. So, Valentina put on her best Daenerys Targaryen smile and started to walk towards the security guards.

“Happy birthday Grace” Valentina offered politely.

“Thank you chick, now come on lets go get drunk” Grace responded as she linked arms with Valentina. “Obviously not you Juliana. I checked, you can get soft drinks” She added, linking her other arm with Juliana’s to drag them inside.

* * *

_13:32_

Despite not knowing the concept of a bottomless brunch before today, Valentina was loving the experience. There were unlimited amounts of prosecco and some random cocktail, plus pizza. Everyone was getting progressively drunker, with Grace being the ringleader as she decided to mix the prosecco and cocktail together. However, Valentina wisely chose not to try and keep up with the crowd because she was mindful of Juliana. Not that it happened often, especially over the course of the past year, but Valentina was starkly aware that there is nothing less fun than being the only sober one around a group of drunk people. So, when the waiting staff came around to refill everyone’s glasses, Valentina found herself quite often saying no, which led to a few raised eyebrows from Juliana, coupled with some reassurance that she could drink more if she wanted. However, Valentina knew she was happy to just enjoy her afternoon with Juliana and her friends.

The best aspect of the afternoon had to be Ballie Ballerson itself. It wasn’t just a standard bottomless brunch, it was a venue with a live DJ and adult ball pits. Over their two-hour time slot, Valentina had worked up a sweat ducking and diving in the ball pits, only really stopping to take a couple of Instagram boomerangs and photos. Plus, at one point she had doubled over holding her stomach from laughing too much when she had hit Juliana square in the face during one of various ball fights that had taken place amongst their group. It was a relatively simple activity and Valentina couldn’t remember the last time she had just had fun doing something simple like this.

However, Valentina’s happy reverie faded when she saw some random guy sat next to Juliana at the bar. Valentina tried to remain relaxed at first but upon further inspection of the situation, she could see that this guy was sat within Juliana’s personal space. And Valentina couldn’t understand why this appeared to be the case. In fact, the longer she stared, the more she realised Juliana looked like she was enjoying the attention from him. In the space of about 10 seconds, Valentina went from feeling like a kid again to trying to remember the steps Annalise Keating taught her students in How to Get Away with Murder. Valentina didn’t chastise herself for feeling jealous because to her jealously was a natural feeling. Yes, she knew Juliana wasn’t her property, but it still wasn’t nice to feel like someone was trying to break into your house. So, Valentina sauntered over in an attempt to subconsciously let the guy know that he was trespassing. As soon as she approached Juliana, she wrapped her arm around her shoulder, and leant in and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Hola amor” Valentina only spoke directly to Juliana.

“Is everything okay?” Juliana’s face looked like she was a little bemused.

“Yes why?” Valentina tried to keep her tone flat still not acknowledging the fact that she had interrupted Juliana’s conversation.

“It’s just that I was talking wi-” Juliana started explaining but Valentina chose to cut her off.

“Oh forgive me. I’m Valentina” She spoke confidently holding out her hand, which the man in question shook tentatively. “You don’t mind if I steal her do you?” Valentina asked in an overly chirpily fashion.

“No” He responded holding his hands up.

“But I do” Juliana sounded annoyed.

“No it’s fine, you’ve got a wild one Juliana” He laughed whilst getting up. “See you at work” He added whilst walking away and those four words made Valentina start thinking she had completely read the situation wrong. By the thunderous look on Juliana’s face, it was confirmation she had.

“Juls” Valentina called out when she noticed Juliana was also getting up from her seat but it didn’t stop her.

Even when Valentina called her a second time, Juliana continued to ignore her and Valentina knew then that she had messed up. Valentina stood still watching Juliana walk up to Grace, whispering something in her ear before she grabbed her jacket, presumably so she could head towards the exit. It felt like time was stood still as she watched the event unfold before her eyes, and Valentina’s feet were glued to the floor. However, it was the look on Grace’s face that compelled her into action because when Grace’s eyes locked onto hers, Valentina knew if looks could kill, then she’d be six feet under. Thankfully, Grace’s look was fleeting as her expression softened somewhat and she gestured with her eyes that Valentina should follow her. So that’s exactly what Valentina did, not saying goodbye to anyone before chasing after Juliana. Juliana hadn’t gotten very far by the time Valentina got outside so she was able to run up behind her and tug on her arm, and luckily this time she stopped.

“Qué?” Juliana sounded even more irritated than before.

“Juls, I’m sorry, I didn’t realise” Valentina pleaded.

“No you didn’t because you were so rude, you interrupted us, you didn’t introduce yourself. Actually, you completely ignored him!” Juliana shouted at her.

“I know, I’m sorry” Valentina frowned.

“If you had remembered your manners then I would’ve told you that I know him from work, and we were talking about the bar reopening next week because Perlita texted me this morning to tell me that the work on the electrical system is almost finished” Juliana wasn’t shouting anymore but her voice was still raised slightly.

“I’m sorry, I could see how close you two were sat and I thought he was hitting on you” Valentina feebly attempted to explain her actions.

“First of all, the reason we were sat like that is because he was telling me that he was here getting drunk because he just broke up with his BOYfriend and I was actually telling him about you but it was loud in there so we couldn’t hear each other” Juliana paused to take a breath. “Second of all, why do you think I would be sat that close to a guy if he was trying to hit on me. Do you really think I would do that to you? As if you mean nothing to me?” Juliana sounded hurt as she made her second point.

Valentina opened and closed her mouth like a fish. She was dumbfounded because Juliana having a go at her made her realise how stupid she had acted. She had had the conversation with herself about not acting jealous before she walked over to them, and she acted in the complete opposite way, making completely unfounded assumptions. And Juliana’s questions filled Valentina with guilt. Her behaviour had made Juliana think that she didn’t trust her, which wasn’t the case at all.

“No Juls, I know you wouldn’t, I’m sorry” Valentina’s voice was small.

“Then why did you jump to conclusions? The worst possible one too” Juliana continued to question her.

“I just acted completely irrationally, and I know I shouldn’t have. I know you wouldn’t do that to me, to anyone actually. I didn’t mean to act like a crazy jealous bitch. I don’t know, when you’re in love with someone, it’s that fear you know, it makes you act irrationally even when you know you’re being completely ridiculous, you can’t help it. And I know I shouldn-” Valentina cut herself off when she realised Juliana wasn’t actually listening to her, only staring at her. “Juls” Valentina spoke to get her attention.

“You’re in love with me?” Juliana’s voice faltered and Valentina felt a sense of panic pass through her as she realised what had slipped out in her explanation.

Valentina took a couple of moments to compose herself. Yes, it was completely true what Juliana had just asked her, she knew she loved her, and she had even told Guille that she was. But Valentina had never seen herself telling Juliana about it yet. Even though things between them felt very real, it was still only early days between them so she didn’t want to scare her by being so serious. Valentina searched Juliana’s eyes quickly for some sort of indication on how she should answer her question. Should she joke about it and pass it off as a slip of the tongue? Or should she be vulnerable with Juliana and tell her the truth? Valentina felt like her heart was going to explode when she saw the softness behind Juliana’s eyes, which gave her all the reassurance she needed.

“Sí, te amo Juliana” Valentina’s voice sounded a little shaky.

“¿Neta?” came Juliana’s standard response.

“Yes, I know it already, how I feel about you, I know it’s so early, sometimes it feels like we just met because we did basically, but….I just know Juls, estoy enamorada de tí. I don’t expect you to say it back or to feel the same way bu-“

“No no no Val, estamos enamoradas” Juliana cut off Valentina’s rambling with a response she wasn’t expecting to hear from her.

“¿Estamos?” Valentina’s question came out like a whisper but she knew Juliana could hear her because they had edged closer to each other whilst they were stood in the busy London street.

“Sí, estamos. I love you too Valentina” Juliana spoke more confidently and Valentina was pretty sure Juliana could hear her heart beating through her chest.

Valentina pulled Juliana into a tight hug as she poured all of her emotions from the past half an hour into their embrace. Even though Juliana couldn’t see her face in this position, she wore a goofy smile as the reality of the situation kicked in. She already knew she was in love with Juliana. But Juliana was in love with her too. As Valentina felt Juliana place a soft kiss on her neck, the ache between her legs returned and she knew she wanted to show Juliana just how much she loved her. Valentina released Juliana from her hold, still wearing the enormous smile on her face as she kissed Juliana’s forehead. She felt giddy when Juliana responded with her own small gesture by titling her head upwards to rub her nose against hers. Juliana then stepped back from the hug and pursed her lips as if she was preparing to say something.

“Let’s go back to yours”

It wasn’t Juliana’s statement that took Valentina by surprise, but it was the way she said it. Juliana’s voice was laced with desire which left Valentina in absolutely no doubt what she was ready to do when they got back to Valentina’s penthouse.

* * *

_15:02_

Valentina was relieved as they finally reached her apartment. On their way back, they hadn’t discussed what was going to happen once they got home and conversation was kept fairly light. But the tone in Juliana’s voice after they vocalised their love for each other was ingrained in Valentina’s mind, therefore, she struggled to think about anything else. The problematic journey home didn’t help Valentina’s case at all. There was an uncharacteristic nine-minute wait for the first tube, so when it did arrive the carriage was absolutely packed. Consequently, Valentina and Juliana stood in such close proximity to each other, whenever the tube jolted as it changed direction, Juliana kept pressing her thigh into Valentina to maintain her balance. When they changed lines, the second tube was hit by a red signal which left them stranded in the tunnel for a short while. Juliana had spotted a pregnant woman who looked like she was finding it increasingly difficult to remain standing, so she offered up her seat for her. Resultantly, Juliana decided to sit on Valentina’s lap because they weren’t sure how long it would be until the tube would move again. And conveniently, Juliana remained in that position for the entire journey because she was “comfortable”. All in all, it was safe to say Valentina’s raging libido had returned tenfold by the time they got home.

They both strolled into the open-plan apartment and Juliana was removing her jacket to hang it in the cupboard next to the lift.

“You left your jacket behind” Juliana suddenly realised.

“Oh yes I did didn’t I?”

“I’ll text the house quickly to see if anyone brought it back with them” Juliana replied getting her phone out of her pocket.

“Thank you. It’s warm today so I don’t even know why I brought it” Valentina walked over to the kitchen, grabbing a couple bottles of water from the fridge.

“Because it’s England” Juliana deadpanned, and Valentina laughed. “But you’re right, it’s a really nice day actually” She added.

“We can go outside on the balcony if you want, I think we’ll be fine there” Valentina offered.

“Yes can we? It’s my favourite thing about your place” Juliana asked excitedly.

“Of course, do you want to get in the hot tub?” Valentina asked as sweetly as she could but she knew she had a one-track mind in this moment.

“I don’t have a costume” Juliana replied a little nervously.

“You can wear one of mine” Valentina offered expecting her to say no.

“Okay, are they in the same cupboard at the top of the stairs?” Juliana asked starting to walk towards the staircase and once again Valentina was catching flies.

“Y-yeah they are” Valentina stuttered slightly as she followed Juliana.

* * *

_15:28_

“I think it’s warm enough now to get in” Juliana said dangling her hand in the water to test the temperature.

“Mmmm” Valentina was biting her lip so hard she wasn’t able to articulate a proper sentence.

Valentina couldn’t speak because she couldn’t stop staring at Juliana. And she hadn’t been able to stop staring since Juliana had walked down the stairs into the living room. Valentina had chosen a black costume with a low-rise back and lattice detail at the front. But Juliana had chosen to wear a white bikini. Valentina knew this was a deliberate choice as there were quite a few bathing suits in that wardrobe. So, Valentina interpreted this as a deliberate provocation, and she had to admit, it was working because when they first stepped onto the balcony, it was difficult for Valentina to tear her eyes away from Juliana’s tight abs to turn on the tub. And now after a few minutes, she felt like she was suffocating because the way Juliana was bent over the hot tub so she could put her hand in the water was driving Valentina crazy. The clear view of Juliana’s ass made her costume feel damp and she hadn’t even gotten into the water yet.

It felt like slow-motion as Valentina watched Juliana hoist her leg up to get into the tub. She squeezed her legs together when she heard Juliana let out a small moan of content when her skin came into contact with the warm water.

“It’s nice and warm” Juliana mused.

“It has different settings to adjust the water flow” Valentina mentally facepalmed for producing such an unnecessary statement.

“Well get in and show me” Juliana’s voice sounded husky as she finally sat in one of the corners.

Valentina got up slowly, feeling almost unsteady on her feet as she walked the short distance from the sun lounger to the hot tub. When Valentina got in, she experienced a complete contrast to Juliana’s opinion on the water temperature. Valentina’s hot skin made the water feel cold. She shifted over to the opposite corner so she was facing Juliana.

“Do I smell?” Juliana asked raising her eyebrow.

“No” Valentina laughed dryly.

“Then why are you sat at the furthest possible distance away from me?” Juliana smirked and Valentina realised she had actually created the largest space between them.

“Sorry” Valentina responded before shifting in the tub so she was now sat directly next to Juliana.

As Valentina hadn’t adjusted the settings yet, the small waves created from Valentina’s movement in the water eventually dissipated. Valentina looked down into the clear water and she could see that their legs were so close together but not touching. A few moments of total silence passed and Valentina wanted to awkwardly laugh at how still the water was because neither one of them was moving.

“It’s a nice view isn’t it” Valentina felt compelled to fill the silence.

“Val” Juliana groaned.

“What’s wrong?” Valentina asked in concern.

“Why does this feel so, you know…awkward?” Juliana small voice asked.

“I don’t know” Valentina paused to run her fingers through her hair. “I don’t want to make you feel uncomfortable” She added recalling what happened last time.

“You know it wasn’t because I didn’t want to last time, I just got nervous” Juliana said taking hold of Valentina’s hand under the water and resting it on her thigh.

“I know, that’s why I don’t want to push you” Valentina said whilst squeezing Juliana’s hand.

“You’re not Val, I want to” Valentina twisted her body so she could look directly at Juliana as she responded to her and she knew Juliana meant what she was saying because the panic she saw in Juliana’s eyes last time wasn’t there this time.

“You do?” Valentina saw no harm in double-checking.

“Kiss me Valentina” Juliana instructed and the tone in her voice spoke directly to Valentina’s bundle of nerves.

Valentina didn’t need a second invitation and propelled herself forward to close the gap between them and crash her lips against Juliana’s. She let go of Juliana’s hand and reached behind her to click a button on the remote so the water in the hot tub starting bubbling. Juliana used her free hand to clasp the back of Valentina’s neck, drawing her in more. This kiss was more aggressive than the other night, signalled by Juliana parting her lips to open her mouth straight away so Valentina could push her tongue inside. Valentina moaned into Juliana’s mouth when their tongues came into contact with each other. Valentina was exhilarated as her tongue massaged Juliana’s and despite being outside in the open air, it felt like they were trapped in a furnace as Valentina ran her tongue along the roof of Juliana’s mouth.

Valentina could feel Juliana trying to twist her body into her more to create more contact between them but she knew in this position, it wouldn’t do the trick. So, she pulled away from the kiss, moving as quick as she could when she saw the slight frown on Juliana’s face, lifting her leg up so she could slide across to get on Juliana’s lap. Valentina felt Juliana lean forward a little bit so her back was no longer flush against the hot tub wall, which allowed Valentina to push her hips forwards to straddle her properly. Valentina let out a small moan as she felt her centre rub against Juliana’s thighs, with only the thin material of her costume to separate them. Her moan seemed to retrigger Juliana into action as she reattached her lips to Valentina’s. Valentina felt like she was losing her mind as Juliana sucked on her bottom lip and ran her hands along her bare back, applying more pressure along her shoulder blades. Valentina couldn’t help but tighten the grip she had with both hands on the sides of Juliana’s face, caressing her skin with her thumbs. She was even more turned on than last week and despite being in the water, she was utterly aware of her wetness forming between her legs. Juliana released Valentina’s bottom lip and started kissing her way down her jaw line and she was so close to her ear that her hot breath was driving her crazy.

“Can I take it off?” Juliana whispered into Valentina’s ear as she moved her hands to touch the straps of her costume.

“Sí, you don’t have to ask” came Valentina’s response before she let out another moan as Juliana bit her earlobe.

Juliana slowly dragged down the straps of Valentina’s costume, pulling it down so her breasts were now exposed. Juliana took Valentina by surprise as she was expecting her hands to start cupping her breasts, something she imagined in the shower that morning. But Juliana left a trail of hot, wet kisses down Valentina’s neck, stopping briefly to suck on her pulse point. Valentina’s arousal grew as Juliana’s mouth kept travelling along her collarbone, down her chest and across her breast. Valentina let out a deep, guttural moan when she felt Juliana’s tongue on her rock-hard nipple and the desire that coursed through her veins was so strong, so overpowering that she reached out to grip the side of the hot tub to steady herself. When Juliana began swirling her tongue around Valentina’s nipple, she could feel how soaked she was, and she also knew Juliana must be able to feel her wetness on her thigh through the water. When Juliana’s teeth scraped against her nipple, just before she bit it, Valentina was sure she was going to pass out.

“Oh God Juls” Valentina moaned.

The throbbing between her legs started to become painful and Valentina was craving some friction, so she started to move her hips slowly, grinding against Juliana’s thigh as Juliana continued her assault on her nipple. But it wasn’t enough, Valentina needed more and she suddenly became frustrated at her choice of clothing.

“Juls” Valentina breathed. “Juls” She repeated as Juliana was quite literally paying too much attention to her nipple. “Juliana” She spoke more loudly this time and Juliana immediately removed her mouth from her breast leaving Valentina craving the contact again.

“Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?” Juliana spoke so quickly and it made Valentina’s heart melt a little when she saw the frightened look in Juliana’s eyes.

“No, tranquila hermosa” Valentina said giving her a quick chaste kiss. “I just think it would be better if we go inside” She suggested and she could see Juliana visibly relax.

“Okay sure” Juliana replied moving her hands to pull Valentina’s costume straps up but Valentina reached out to stop her.

“No there’s no need, I’m going to take it off anyway” She responded feeling quite pleased with herself when she noticed Juliana’s pupils turn a little shade darker.

Valentina hoisted herself up off of Juliana’s lap and stepped out of the hot tub. She grabbed a towel and passed it to Juliana who followed her out before picking up her own one. As she dried herself off, she noticed there was one area of her costume that would remain stuck to her, no matter how much she tried. They both walked inside and Valentina noticed Juliana was heading towards the stairs so she reached out to stop her.

“No let’s stay here” Valentina instructed pulling Juliana into her, reigniting the fire between them.

Valentina moved her lips ferociously against Juliana’s, deepening the kiss as she walked them backwards towards her sofa. Once the back of Juliana’s knees hit the edge of the sofa, she sat down and adjusted her position so she was lying almost flat on her back with her head and shoulders resting on the cushion in the corner seat. Juliana looked up to find Valentina’s eyes and the dark desire behind both of their eyes signalled that this was it, there was no turning back now. So Valentina grabbed the edges of her swimming costume which was resting around her midriff and pushed it downwards until it was left around her ankles. Valentina watched Juliana’s eyes roam all over her body, to which she was expecting to feel self-conscious. But she didn’t because of the way Juliana was staring at her. In fact, she wasn’t just staring at her, she was eye-fucking her, and Valentina had never felt sexier than she did now in this moment. Juliana didn’t take her eyes off Valentina’s naked body when she began to move her hands to take off her bikini top. But Valentina immediately moved towards the sofa to intercept her move.

“Let me” Valentina whispered as she climbed on top of Juliana.

Juliana opened her legs slightly which allowed Valentina to position herself between them. But to give them more space, Valentina picked up the large cushion which served as the back of the sofa and threw it on the floor. This opened up more space to allow Valentina to straddle Juliana once again. She heard Juliana gasp when Valentina’s wetness came into direct contact with her skin and Valentina looked down quickly and she could visibly see the trail she left on Juliana’s skin.

“You’re so wet” Juliana voiced what they were both thinking.

“This is what you do to me, how you make me feel, how much I want you” Valentina explained huskily.

“I’m yours” It was a simple statement that Juliana made but it drove Valentina crazy.

She pinched the bottom of Juliana’s bikini top and lifted it up and over her head. Valentina waited for Juliana to try and cover herself up like she did before but that never came so she just licked her lips before she reached out to take Juliana’s breasts in her hands. Valentina felt Juliana’s nipples harden under her palm as she squeezed her breast and she watched Juliana’s eyes close as her pleasure travelled through her body. Valentina let go of her breasts so she could take hold of Juliana’s nipples in her fingers. She flicked them at first, recalling how much Juliana responded to her touch last time. As she squeezed them she leaned down towards Juliana’s face.

“Can I take the bottoms off?” Valentina whispered against Juliana’s lips.

Juliana responded with a nod and restarted their kiss but this time Valentina was firmly in control of the kiss. Valentina licked Juliana’s bottom lip before opening her mouth to take in Juliana’s tongue. She began to move her hands from Juliana’s nipples, dragging them down her body. She stopped at Juliana’s stomach, carefully dragging her fingers across the surface and over to her sides. Valentina felt encouraged to continue as she swallowed a quick succession of moans from Juliana’s mouth. Valentina shifted her body weight slightly so she could grab hold of Juliana’s bikini bottoms, not pushing them down yet but just resting her hands there to make sure Juliana felt comfortable enough to continue. Valentina received a non-verbal yes when Juliana pushed her tongue further into Valentina’s mouth, which Valentina took between her teeth, sucking on Juliana’s tongue as she began to slowly slide down her bikini bottoms. As Valentina dragged the material past Juliana’s knees, Juliana was able to bend her legs to kick off the now offensive item.

Valentina couldn’t resist looking down at the sight before her, so she moved back slightly so she was now straddling Juliana’s thigh. Not just because she was turned on and wanted to devour her object of desire. But Valentina also felt a sense of fascination because she had never seen another woman’s vagina before. She’d spent enough time on social media to read countless body positivity posts telling her that all vaginas are different. However, as she stared at the marvellous sight before her, Valentina told herself that she would never see another vagina as beautiful as this. Nor did she want to either.

“Can I touch you?” Valentina asked sweetly.

“Yes” Juliana’s voice was the deepest Valentina had ever heard it.

Valentina was unsure how to approach it at first, but she reminded herself of what she likes so she leaned forward to capture Juliana’s lips again whilst she began to stroke Juliana’s legs. She started at the inside of Juliana’s knees, slowly caressing her there before ghosting her fingers across Juliana’s thighs before caressing the inside of them. Valentina’s hand was so close to Juliana’s sex that she could feel the heat radiating from it now. She used one finger tentatively at first to touch Juliana’s lips, before using two fingers to stroke the length of her lips.

“Val please” Juliana’s moan came out like a whine.

Valentina cooperated with Juliana’s demands and manoeuvred her fingers through Juliana’s folds. This time it was her turn to moan as she came into contact with Juliana’s wetness. She revelled in her silky slickness as she moved her fingers up and down the length of Juliana’s sex. Juliana bit down hard on Valentina’s bottom lip when she ghosted over Juliana’s clit and Valentina stopped there to start rubbing slow circles, feeling Juliana’s clit grow in size. Juliana broke the kiss to throw her head back into the cushion as Valentina began to increase the speed of the circles. Hearing Juliana’s moans grow louder was driving Valentina crazier and crazier and she could feel her own throbbing intensify.

“Can I…you know…with my fingers?” Valentina asked tentatively.

“Now please” Juliana’s sexy tone produced further instructions.

Valentina moved her fingers downwards towards Juliana’s entrance and hesitated briefly before she entered her.

“Fuck Val” Juliana moaned, and she reactively pushed her thigh up into Valentina’s centre.

Hearing Juliana moan her name seemed to unlock an upper echelon of arousal that she didn’t even know existed and she pushed her two fingers even deeper inside Juliana because of this. Coupled with the added pressure on her centre, she was no longer able to control her desire so she started to grind her hips against Juliana’s thigh. She grinding started slowly at first so she could concentrate on the rhythm she was setting with her fingers inside Juliana. But as Juliana started to claw at her back, she started to grind harder into her thigh. Soon enough Valentina matched the rhythm of her fingers with the rhythm of her hips and she began to increase her speed. She could already feel Juliana’s walls beginning to tighten around her fingers, just as she could feel her own orgasm teetering on the edge.

“Just let go baby” Valentina whispered into Juliana’s ear.

Valentina could feel the sweat forming on her back as she began to move her hips and pump her fingers at a ferocious speed. She was determined for them to come together and by the sound of Juliana’s pants and reduced ability to move her fingers inside her, she knew she was close.

“Let it consume you” Valentina whispered into Juliana’s ear again.

“Val” Juliana moaned.

That was the last sound Valentina heard from Juliana before she took a sharp intake of breath and went hurtling over the edge. And the sound of Juliana experiencing her first orgasm, the feeling of Juliana’s wetness on her fingers and the tightness of Juliana’s walls was enough to send Valentina’s own orgasm hurtling through her body. The intensity of the moment completely consumed Valentina and the aftershocks that rippled through her body left her unable to move. This was something she had never experienced before, to share a moment so intimate with someone she truly loved. As Valentina opened her eyes and lifted herself up slightly, she found Juliana’s eyes dilated pupils staring at her. Juliana’s eyes looked glassy, almost like she wanted to cry, but she didn’t. She opened her mouth and her voice, coated with arousal, filled the room.

“I wouldn’t have wanted this with anyone else but you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on twitter: @juliantina_vida
> 
> Feel free to look up Ballie Ballerson, it's very cool!


End file.
